KUALA LUMPUR (April 25): The FBM KLCI dipped at mid-morning today, tracking the slip at most regional markets, dragged by losses at select index-linked blue chips including IHH Healthcare Bhd and UMW Holdings Bhd.

At 10am, the FBM KLCI dipped 1.46 points to 1,636.55.

Losers edged gainers by 266 to 261, while 309 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.04 billion shares valued at RM554.21 million.

The top losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, IHH Healthcare, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, YNH Property Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, UMW Holdings and DWL Resources Bhd.

The actives included Bumi Armada Bhd, Ekovest Bhd, Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd, Priceworth International Bhd, Key ASIC Bhd and HeiTech Padu Bhd.

The gainers included United Plantations Bhd, Tasek Corp Bhd, Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd, Kawan Food Bhd, Genting Bhd and HeiTech Padu.

Asian shares slipped on Thursday as a surprise deterioration in German business morale rekindled fears of slowing global growth, while oil prices pulled back slightly after a sharp run-up earlier in the week, according to Reuters.

The euro slumped to a 22-month low against the US dollar overnight after the drop in German business confidence highlighted the divergence between data in the euro zone and the United States, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said in the US, market movement will be mostly driven by the ongoing corporate earnings season over the near term and is likely to be driven by tech giants as Facebook and Microsoft have released better-than-expected quarterly results.

"On the trade front, US officials will be heading to Beijing on April 30 for another round of discussion. Investors are still putting high hopes to see a trade resolution by 2Q19.

"On the local front, construction stocks have been traded actively over the past few days on the back of reinstatement of few mega projects such as ECRL (East Coast Rail Link) and Bandar Malaysia and we believe building material[s] such as steel and cement segments will be seen as [the] first beneficiary of the construction works and may trade higher over the near term.

"Also, with the firmer crude oil prices around US$74-75, we see sustained trading interest amongst O&G (oil and gas) counters. The KLCI may extend its technical rebound towards 1,650-1,666," it said.