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 regained some traction after the Chinese New Year break with mild bargain hunting allowing for the key index to remain above the psychological 1,550 level.
At the same time, reduced foreign institutional selling also allowed the key index to mount the recovery.
Most Bursa sector indices also headed higher but with many market players still on their break, traded volumes were extremely thin at just about 1.5 billion shares traded last Friday.
However, the market could whipsaw again following President Trump’s announcement of tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China that is likely to affect market sentiments at the start of the new week.
This could undo last Friday’s gains as the fresh headwinds could cause market players to retreat from the Malaysian equity market albeit there is no direct impact on the country’s economy.
Nevertheless, there could be increased wariness as the tariffs could slow global trades that would also have a pronounced effect on Malaysia’s external environment performance.
This also means that the psychological 1,550 level could still be under threat as the selling is likely to resume.
There is an interim support at the 1,553 level while below the 1,550 support, the other support is at 1,545 points. The resistances, meanwhile, are at the 1,558-1,560 levels, followed by the 1,572 level.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI recovered slightly from its downward pressure as bargain hunting activities were seen in banking and utility heavyweights.
Meanwhile, Wall Street closed lower following President Trump’s tariffs implementation on Canada, Mexico and China which took effect on Saturday (Feb 1).
The technology sector remained a key focus driven by the rise of China’s AI start-up, DeepSeek.
This week, traders will closely monitor the (i) ISM Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing PMIs (Purchasing Managers’ Index); (ii) initial jobless claims; and (iii) US unemployment rate.
In the commodities market, Brent Crude is trading close to US$76/barrel while gold prices charged toward an all-time high of US$2,817/oz before closing slightly below the US$2,800/oz mark.
Meanwhile, CPO (crude palm oil) prices broke above their short-term RM4,278/metric tonne resistance level.
The FBM KLCI index recovered from its four-day losing streak. However, MACD histogram and RSI are trending negatively, suggesting upward momentum is weak at the current juncture.
Resistance is anticipated around 1,571-1,576 while support is set at 1,536-1,541. – Feb 3, 2025
