KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 5): The FBM KLCI extended its losses in early trade on Friday, as weaker buying sentiment and lack of catalysts kept the local bourse in the red. At 9am, the FBM KLCI fell 2.29 points to 1,743.40. The top losers included APM Automotive Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, IJM Land Holdings Bhd, Dialog Group Bhd, IJM Corporation Bhd, Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd and Parkson Group Holdings Bhd. Regionally, Asian shares edged higher in early trade on Friday, while the dollar marked time ahead of the key U.S. jobs report later in the session that could help it retake ground lost to the euro overnight, according to Reuters. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up about 0.1 percent, but on track for a weekly loss of 0.7 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average slipped 0.4 percent, but was on track for a weekly gain of around 2 percent, it said. JF Apex Securities Research said U.S. stocks fell overnight with benchmarks not far from record highs, as investors considered reports that the European Central Bank (ECB) would consider a broad-based package of quantitative easing in January and awaited the monthly jobs report. Meanwhile, it said European markets closed lower after ECB)President Mario Draghi's regular press conference revealed that any further monetary easing measures would not be instituted until next year. “On the local market, the FBM KLCI extended its slump after losing 12.46 points to 1745.69 points. “We expect the bearish performance to continue with no catalyst in sight,” it said.