KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 30): The FBM KLCI kicked off the final trading day of the third quarter of 2015 on a lacklustre note this morning while regional markets steadied.

At 9am, the FBM KLCI was down 0.80 points to 1,602.52.

The top losers included Petronas Gas Bhd, MISC Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Keck Seng (Malaysia) Bhd, Gamuda Bhd, IJM Plantations Bhd, Westports Holdings Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd and Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd.

Most Asian stock markets steadied on Wednesday after sliding to three-year lows but a weak outlook for commodities and persistent concerns about China's economy discouraged most buyers, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed in early trade after plumbing its lowest since June 2012 on Tuesday on fears that China's slowdown would curb its huge appetite for commodities and resources, it said.

JF Apex Securities Research in its market preview today said US markets were mixed with the Dow and S&P rising following higher commodities prices while the Nasdaq declined as biotech stocks pared intra-day gains.

Meanwhile, it said European stocks ended slightly lower despite improvement in automakers, miners and oil prices.

“On the local bourse, the FBM KLCI lost 5.11 points to 1,603.32 points.

“Following the mixed performance in the US, we expect the FBM KLCI to continue to consolidate above the support of 1,600 points,” 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.)