KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 25): The FBM KLCI got off to a skittish start this morning as investors turned their focus to the Bank Negara Malaysia Monetary Policy Commitee metting today.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI shed 0.14 points to 1,836.90.

The top losers included Zhulian Corp Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, TAS Offshore Bhd, Mulpha International Bhd and Elsoft Research Bhd.

Asian stocks held near a record high on Thursday though concerns about the Trump administration's protectionist stance cast a shadow on financial markets, while the dollar was under pressure after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin welcomed a weaker currency, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.15 percent while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.8 percent, hit by the dollar's decline against the yen, it said.

JF Apex Securities Research in a market preview said US markets ended mixed overnight with the Dow hitting record highs amid strong quarterly results while the S&P and Nasdaq closed slightly lower as tech counters tumbled.

It said that earlier, European stocks declined following mixed corporate earnings.

“On the local market, the FBM KLCI shed 1 point to 1837.04 points.

“Following the recent flattish trend, the index is expected to remain sideways below the resistance of 1840 points,” it said.