KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 28): The FBM KLCI got off to an insipid start today in line with the struggling regional markets.

At 9am, the FBM KLCI dipped 2.49 points to 1,612.52.

The top losers included Amtel Holdings Bhd, Keck Seng (Malaysia) Bhd, United Plantations Bhd, Hong Leong Industries Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, IOI Properties Group Bhd, Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd, DKSH (M) Holdings Bhd and Public Bank Bhd.

Asian stocks struggled for traction on Monday after an uninspiring performance on Wall Street at the end of last week, while the dollar consolidated its gains against the yen and euro, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan stood virtually flat, while Tokyo's Nikkei lost 1.2% in early trade. Australian shares dipped 0.1%, it said.

JF Apex Securities Research in a market preview today said US markets were mixed on Friday as Nasdaq lost 1% following selldown in biotech stocks.

Meanwhile, it said European stocks rallied as concerns on economic slowdown faded after US Federal Reserve said it will raise interest rate later this year.

“On the local bourse, the FBM KLCI closed 1.48 points higher at 1,615.01 points after recovering from an intraday low of 1,603.02 points.

“Following the mixed performance in US markets, we expect the KLCI to consolidate above the support of 1,600 points,” it said.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)