KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 13): The FBM KLCI dipped at mid-morning today in line with the tepid regional markets.

At 10.17am, the FBM KLCI dipped 4.08 points to 1,662.95.

The top losers included Malpac Holdings Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd, IOI Corporation Bhd, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd and MISC Bhd.

The actives included Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Nexgram Holdings Bhd, Johan Holdings Bhd and Borneo Oil Bhd.

Meanwhile, the gainers included DanaInfra Nasional Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd and Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd.

Asian stocks held near three-week lows and the greenback consolidated recent gains on Thursday after minutes of the last US Federal Reserve policy meeting indicated a December rate increase was still on the cards, according to Reuters.

Risk appetite waned, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan easing 0.2%, its lowest since Sept 21. Early stock markets were mixed with Australia down 0.5% while New Zealand stocks were up 0.4%, it said.

Hong Leong IB Research said with the US Dec Fed rate hike probability largely priced in (Bloomberg poll: 68%), the FBM KLCI is likely to lock in range bound consolidation mode within 1,645–1,675 levels ahead of the outcomes from the upcoming Budget 2017 (Oct 21), US Presidential election (Nov 8) and the OPEC meeting (end-November).