BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
The key index managed to eke out minor gains towards the end of yesterday’s trading session on mild end-of-day buying support on selective banking heavyweights.
Conditions elsewhere, however, remained morbid with many of the lower liners retreating further as there were still little interest in the equity marketplace.
The tapering market interest is readily manifested in the lower traded volumes.
Despite the key index inching higher, there is little change to the near-term market outlook that is likely to stay indifferent, devoid of significant catalysts to lift sentiments and to pull-in market players.
The lack of clarity over the relaxation of the restrictive measures and the unabated COVID-19 infections continue to leave the market on a cautious mode.
As such, we think the FBM KLCI is likely to remain on a low gear for longer and this could leave it on the sideways trend for the time being.
The range-bound trend will also keep the key index lingering within the 1,500 and 1,520 levels for now with the intermediate support and resistance levels at 1,510 and 1,517 points respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI closed mildly positive following late bargain hunting activities but gains were capped amid unrelenting COVID-19 cases as well as the recent political developments.
Despite daily COVID-19 infection continue to be on the rise amid ramped up testing in Klang Valley, we expect the vaccination rate to brush off negative sentiment with traders looking for recovery opportunities.
Also, both the Hang Seng Futures and overnight Wall Street could be due for a technical rebound with such sentiment spilling over on local stocks, especially those in the tech sector.
Commodities-wise, crude palm oil (CPO) price was down as demand were seen slowing down from India and China while crude oil extended its gains.
The FBM KLCI edged slightly higher amid lacklustre trading, hovering below the daily EMA9 level. However, technical indicators are still negative as the MACD Histogram has turned into a red bar, while the RSI still hovered below the 50 level.
We reckon sideways trading to continue with resistance set around 1,530-1,550, while the support level is located at 1,500. – July 29, 2021
