KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 18): The FBM KLCI drifted lower in early trade Tuesday, tracking regional markets, while eye specialist service provider Optimax Holdings Bhd, which made its debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia was among the most actively traded.

At 9.05am, the benchmark index dipped 3.23 points to 1,557.51.

The top losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd.

Meanwhile, Optimax rose 35 sen to 65 sen with 35.85 million shares traded.

Bloomberg said Asia stocks drifted in early trading Tuesday after the S&P 500 Index failed at another attempt to break a record high amid an impasse over U.S. stimulus measures.

The dollar held declines, it said.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd in its daily market report said Wall Street ended mixed with the DJI Average losing 86 points as concerns over the latest US Covid-19 stimulus package linger.

It said on the contrary, tech heavy Nasdaq was up 110 points to almost the 11,130 mark.

“In view of this, we reckon regional markets to be rather muted today due to the lack of strong catalysts.

“At home, we believe the choppy glove counters share price to continue affecting the performance of the FBM KLCI thus we expect the benchmark index to oscillate within the 1,550-1,565 range today,” it said.