BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Berjaya Research
The FBM KLCI retreated on Wednesday, reversing most of its previous session gains as the hotter-than-expected US inflation reinforced a hawkish outlook for the Federal Reserve.
Trading activity eased to 4.14 billion shares, from 4.92 billion shares in the previous session.
Market breadth was tilted slightly negative with 610 decliners against 577 advancers as investor sentiment turned cautious amid lingering uncertainty over the trajectory of US monetary policy.
The FBM KLCI is expected to remain on the back foot in the near term as renewed caution over the US monetary policy outlook continues to weigh on investor sentiment across regional markets.
The softer market breadth observed in the prior session suggests that buying conviction remains fragile with investors adopting a selective approach amid the prevailing uncertainty.
On the data front, market participants will be closely monitoring the upcoming US retail sales figures as a stronger-than-expected reading could further dampen expectations of near-term US Fed rate cuts, thus exerting additional headwinds on emerging market equities, including Bursa Malaysia.
Technically, the key index has formed a bearish candlestick as the key index looks to form a consolidation pattern. The immediate resistance is located at 1,760 points, followed by 1,768 points. Conversely, near-term supports are at 1,739 points, followed by 1,732 points.
Malacca Securities Research
As MSCI removes six stocks as part of its re-balancing activities and following mixed performance in the US markets yesterday, we believe the FBM KLCI will adopt a ‘wait-and-see’ approach regarding US President Donald Trump’s visit to China to gain greater clarity.
Although the technology sector remains strong, buoyed by the influence of US tech giants visiting China and the recent Arm Holdings plc strategic partnership, we suggest that traders wait for a pullback entry opportunity or consider taking partial profits as most Bursa-listed technology stocks are currently overbought.
Finally, we continue to favour EG Industries Bhd and Insights Analytics Bhd with the latter set to benefit from the utility boom in Sarawak.
While the FBM KLCI retreated slightly, the technical indicators are still showing positive signals at this current juncture as the MACD histogram is trading at its positive territory while the RSI is also hovering above 50.
Resistance is seen around 1,761-1,766 with support at 1,726-1,731. – May 14, 2026
