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 ended last Friday with minute losses after it managed to recover most of its intraday losses on mild buying support on selected key index stocks.
However, the broad equity market environment remains mostly weak due to continuing wariness over the potential escalation of a trade war between the US and its major trading partners.
This is manifested by the continuing negative market breadth with most lower liners succumbing to a fresh bout of selling.
Near-term market conditions are likely to stay unsettled with the continuing uncertainties over the US’ trade policies that is likely to keep investors on guard.
Already market conditions are becoming increasingly cautious over the state of global trading environment and the lingering uncertainties will leave the market to drift for longer, bucking the positives for the country’s better-than-expected 2024 GDP performance as the outlook for 2025 is becoming more uncertain.
There are also fewer corporate developments to encourage market players to increase their market involvement, further leaving the key index to drift, likely within the 1,585 and 1,595 levels for the time being.
The other support and resistance levels are set at 1,580 points and the psychological 1,600 level respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
The local bourse traded flat as selling pressure was observed within the telco sector which offset gains in banking heavyweights.
Meanwhile, Wall Street ended the week higher as sentiment improved after President Trump signed a memorandum outlining plans for reciprocal tariffs on countries taxing US products instead of imposing immediate targeted tariffs.
The US markets will be closed today in conjunction with the Presidents’ Day public holiday.
In the commodities market, Brent oil is hovering within the tight range around US$74-US$75/barrel given the prospects of Russian-Ukraine peace talks.
Gold prices retraced toward US$2,882/oz while CPO (crude palm oil) prices rebounded to trade closer to the RM4,600/metric tonne level.
The key index is currently resisted by EMA60. The technical indicators are also showing signs of slowing down whereby both the MACD Histogram and RSI are starting to trend downward.
Resistance is anticipated around 1,606-1,611 while support is set at 1,571-1,576. – Feb 17, 2025
