KUALA LUMPUR (April 28): The FBM KLCI opened lower this morning, weighed by heavyweights Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Telekom Malaysia Bhd, but the index is expected to stage a technical rebound during the course of the day.

At 9am, the FBM KLCI dipped 3.77 points to 1,688.57.

The early decliners included Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, Westports Holdings Bhd and Telekom Malaysia Bhd.

The dollar and U.S. stock futures edged up in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve's statement that offered few clues on its monetary policy outlook, but moves were slight as investors awaited the Bank of Japan's policy decision, according to Reuters.

In its statement issued after its meeting on Wednesday, the Fed left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, but kept the door open to a hike in June while showing little sign it was in a hurry to tighten, it said.

JF Apex Securities Research in a market preview today said US markets were mixed with the Dow and S&P climbing while the Nasdaq declined following Apple's disappointing earnings.

It said that earlier, European stocks advanced after encouraging corporate results announcements.

“On the local market, the FBM KLCI ended 0.16 points lower at 1692.34 points after recovering from an intraday low of 1682.48 points.

“Following the positive performance in the US and Europe, the FBM KLCI could stage a rebound today with resistance at 1705 points and support at 1675 points,” it said.