KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 12): The FBM KLCI dipped in early trade on Thursday, in line with the retreat at most regional markets.

At 9.01am, the FBM KLCI fell 8.99 points to 1,789.96, weighed by blue chips including Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

The top losers included Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Genting Plantations Bhd and Coastal Contracts Bhd.

Asian stocks and the euro dipped on Thursday as markets erred on the side of caution over the ongoing Greek debt negotiations amid conflicting headlines on progress in the talks, according to Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2 percent. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.2 percent. Japan's Nikkei bucked the trend and gained 1.6 percent thanks to a significantly weaker yen, it said.

JF Apex Securities Research in a market preview Thursday said

US markets closed flaton Wednesday after recovering from intra-day losses as investors continue to monitor the progress in Greece's bailout talks.

Meanwhile, it said European stocks were lower as the 2-day negotiations between Greece and Euro finance ministers began.

The research house said on the local front, the FBM KLCI lost 12.17 points to close at 1798.95 points after touching an intra-day low of 1790.80 points.

“The index's rebound rally since December came to a halt after failing to break the resistance of 1830 points.

“We expect the index to continue hover around 1,800 points with a negative bias due to concern on Greece and oil price,” it said.