KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 19): The FBM KLCI opened lower this morning and looked set to trade subdued in line with its regional peers on still tepid investor sentiment.

At 9am, the FBM KLCI shed 0.27 points to 1,622.37 points.

The early decliners included Public Bank Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, Pharmaniaga Holdings Bhd, Teck Seng (Malaysia) Bhd, C.I. Holdings Bhd, Pavilion REIT, Only World Group Holdings Bhd, MMC Corporation Bhd, IQ Group Bhd and Abric Bhd.

Asian stocks were subdued early on Tuesday following a retreat in European shares overnight, while crude oil prices remained bearish following the lifting of sanctions against major producer Iran, according to Reuters.

Asia had no leads from Wall Street as the US markets were closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day, it said.

JF Apex Securities Research in a market preview today said European markets ended slightly lower as oil price dropped to US$28 per barrel as Iran plans to increase production.

"On the local market, the FBM KLCI closed 5.91 points lower at 1,622.64 points after bouncing off an intraday low of 1,608.81 points.

"The index remains pressured and could test the psychological level of 1,600 points. Market direction could be decided by the announcement of China's 4Q GDP at 10am later," it said.

(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.)