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 continues to lose ground, closing below the 1,445-support level yesterday with market conditions affected by Moody’s downgrade of eight China banks on their lower credit worthiness.
Conditions were weak throughout the day but selling was relatively benign as the key index was able to largely hold its ground.
Still, the broader market shares ended the session broadly lower with losers nearly doubled the number of gainers.
We see the near-term market conditions remaining frail and this points to another day of unsettled conditions on Bursa Malaysia that could see the key index end the week on another downbeat note.
As it is, the market’s undertone is still dicey, unable to gain much traction amid the lack of catalyst with the corresponding buying interest being thin with most market players on a wait-and-see stance.
The overnight recovery on some key global indices is also unlikely to provide much impetus for the FBM KLCI. This could further leave the benchmark index to maintain its drifting trend for the time being.
Continuing wariness could see the key index ending the week near or at the 1,440 support with the ensuing support pegged at 1,436 points. The immediate resistance is at 1,445 points, followed by the psychological 1,450 level.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI continued to decline for the fourth session as profit taking activities persisted.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets ended on a positive note with a boost from Alphabet after it jumped more than 9% after launching a new generation of AI chips which will enable it to better against OpenAI and AMD.
However, the non-farm payroll will be very crucial for the market to sustain another upward move as the narrative can switch easily from overheating to recession fears if the non-farm payroll declines significantly.
On the local front, we expect bargain hunting activities to emerge following the four-day losing streak. On the commodity markets, Brent crude prices continue to trade around US$74/barrel as it lacks fresh catalyst to spur the positive trade.
The FBM KLCI drifted lower for the fourth session. The technical readings on the key index were negative with the MACD Histogram staying flattish around the 0 level while the RSI has dipped further below the 50 level.
The resistance is pegged around 1,460-1,465 while the support is at 1,430-1,440. – Dec 8, 2023
