BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
The FBM KLCI tipped higher yesterday, rising in tandem with the gains among regional indices as they also reacted to Wall Street’s firmer close a day earlier.
Foreign buying was also sustained to help shore up the key index, particularly in the afternoon session when buying was firmer.
In the broader market, conditions were also sanguine as gainers topped losing stocks by a wide margin while traded volumes stayed elevated at over 6.0 billion shares for the day, little changed from a day earlier.
Yesterday’s gains on the FBM KLCI have renewed the near-term positivity, bucking its extended toppish conditions.
Still, the market’s undertone remains firm and could preserve most of the recent gains as it attempts to break out of the hurdle as market players will be keeping an eye on the country’s 1Q 2024 GDP report card to be released today.
Although we think the level could remain steadfast for now, mild profit taking may possibly emerge heading into the weekend. This follows the lower overnight closing on Wall Street as it also tried to push to a new record high.
With the selling pressure still mild, there should be ample support at the 1,608 and the 1,600 points levels. The hurdles, on the other hand, are at 1,615 and 1,628 levels respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI and FBM70 managed to register fresh 52-week highs with strong buying interest emerging within the broader market.
Also, investors in general were buying into the technology sector following the cooler-than-expected US CPI (consumer price index) data.
As the US Federal Reserve maintained a less hawkish stance in its monetary policies going forward, we believe the overall buying support should continue on Wall Street.
Investors will also be watching the industrial production and retail sales data from China to reassess the recovery trend in China.
On the commodity markets, Brent crude noticed support above US$81/barrel by trading along US$83/barrel while gold price rallied nearer to US$2,400/oz.
The FBM KLCI index ended higher, surpassing the 1,610 level. The technical readings on the key index were mixed with the MACD Histogram extending a negative bar while the RSI maintains above 50.
The resistance is envisaged around 1,625-1,630 while the support is set at 1,590-1,595. – May 17, 2024
