KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 26): The FBM KLCI fell 2.09 points or 0.1%, tracking crude oil and Asian share losses following an overnight drop in US equities.

At 9:03am, the KLCI was traded at 1,623.12 points. Last Friday, the KLCI rose 24.29 points or 1.52% to close at 1,625.21.

Across Asian share markets today, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.1% while South Korea's Kospi was 1.29% lower.

Reuters reported that crude oil prices fell on Monday, wiping out much of the price gains made on Friday, not helped by the news that Iraq's output reached a record last month, deepening concerns of oversupply.

In early Asian trade on Tuesday, the US futures fell further to US$29.88 a barrel.

In Malaysia, M&A Securities Sdn Bhd research head Rosnani Rasul said the global spotlight this week would be on US monetary policy. Rosnani said
anticipation of the US' interest rate decision would add uncertainty to crude oil prices.

"The first policy meeting of the year may as well set the tone on the first policy rate adjustment which may come in small dose of 25 basis points.

"Although the probability is 50:50 due to weak US inflation due to lethargic oil price, we think that oil price may have reached its bottom and due for a rebound," she wrote in a note today.

At Bursa Malaysia, some 65 million shares worth RM27 million changed hands. There were 104 gainers versus 129 decliners.

Top gainer was British American Tobacco (M) Bhd while Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd led decliners. Most-active was The Media Shoppe Bhd.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)