KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 13): The main index at Bursa Malaysia trended lower in early trade Tuesday, as local issues appeared to weigh on investor sentiment, while regional markets drifted.

Domestic politics are likely to take centre stage today when Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim meets with the King next week to present his claim for taking over the premiership from Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Also playing a crucial role will be the conditional movement control order that will be in effect from Oct 13-Oct 26 in Sabah and from Oct 14-Oct 27 in Putrajaya, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FBM KLCI dipped 4.05 points to 1,514.41.

The early losers included Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, Khind Bhd, Kuala Lumpyr Kepong Bhd, MISC Bhd, IOI Corp Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd.

Bloomberg said Asian stocks drifted Tuesday as investors mulled a surge in U.S. technology shares and the American election campaign continued.

The dollar and Treasuries advanced, it said.

Rakuten Trade in its daily market report said Wall Street started the week on a high as traders went into a buying spree buoyed by improving sentiments from last week.

It said the Dow Jones Industrial Average added another 250 points to inch ever closer to the 29,000 level.

“Therefore, we reckon regional markets to continue with their uptrend today.

“On the local front, we believe the FBM KLCI to see a rebound today although any upside may be limited by the prevailing political and Coronavirus-19 situation.

“As such, we expect the index to trend within the 1,525/30 range today,” it said.