KUALA LUMPUR (April 30): The FBM KLCI drifted lower in early trade today in line with most regional markets and weighed by losses at select blue chips.

At 9am, the FBM KLCI fell 2.64 points to 1,840.29.

The top losers included Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Hong leong Bank Bhd, S P Setia Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd, JobStreet Corporation Bhd, Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Maxis Bhd, Genting Bhd and MMC Corporation Bhd.

Asian stocks slipped and the euro stood tall against the dollar early on Thursday after U.S. data overnight showed the economy grew much more slowly than expected in the first quarter, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5 percent. Japan's Nikkei shed 1.6 percent and South Korean and Australian shares also suffered losses, it said.

JF Apex Securities Research in a market preview today said US markets ended lower following a weaker first quarter GDP of 0.2%, below the estimate of 1.0%.

Similarly, it said European equities tumbled after a sharp gain in the Euro currency.

“Back home, the FBM KLCI lost 12.13 points to 1842.93 points to extend its losing streak.

“The decline broke the uptrend since March and we expect the index to find support at 1830 points,” it said.