BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
Malaysian equities made a strong comeback yesterday, much of it on the recovery of glove maker stocks on mild bargain hunting actions following their recent sell-down.
Selected heavyweights like gaming giant Genting also saw gains on optimism over its resort and casino re-opening, but Ambank was among the top losers after it was fined for its role in the 1MDB saga.
Many of the lower liners and broader market shares also regained some traction, even though market interest was thinner.
Further gains could still be hard to come by as we think that the measure of tentativeness is prevalent, especially after the overnight weakness in global equities due to the rising bond yields.
In addition, we see sentiments remaining largely on the cautious side and this could prompt quick profit taking actions.
As such, we think that follow-through buying interest may remain elusive for the time being as profit taking actions could lead to renewed market weakness in the day ahead.
However, we think any pullback may be mild for now and could leave the key index still above the 1,580 level for the time being.
Below that, the supports are at 1,568 and 1,557 points respectively. On the other hand, the hurdles are pegged at 1,590 points and the psychological 1,600 level.
Malacca Securities Research
Bargain hunting activities emerged on the glove counters after more than one week of pullback, lifting the FBM KLCI and the healthcare sector higher.
Market will be looking forward to the second Monetary Policy Committee meeting today to gauge market movements. However, economists anticipate an unchanged stance on the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) amid expectation of an economic recovery.
We believe the lower liners will continue to remain upbeat if the positive market sentiment persists. Meanwhile, the Brent oil price has seen a rebound.
The FBM KLCI advanced and closed slightly above the EMA 120 level. Technical indicators have turned slightly positive with the MACD Histogram by extending another green bar, while the RSI crossed above 50.
We expect the key index to move within the sideways drift with the support level pegged at 1,560 and resistance is envisaged around 1,600-1,620 over the near term. – March 4, 2021
