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 surrendered some of the gains it attained on Wednesday as quick profit taking activities set in to leave it on a losing note yesterday.
The pullback follows the key index’s inability to breach the psychological 1,550 level as it ended the session near its intraday low.
In the broader market, however, stocks mostly rose as technology stocks led gains after the Trump administration rescinded the AI (artificial intelligence) chip curbs, thus enabling market breadth to remain positive. Traded volumes, meanwhile, rose to 3.4 billion shares.
It appears that the 1,550 level is a formidable hurdle for the key index to clear and is likely to remain so for the time being.
As it is, much of the FBM KLCI’s fundamentals are already reflected in its valuation that has recovered to near its historical forward averages.
Unless there are meaningful improvements in the corporate earnings prospects, further significant upsides may still prove to be difficult to come by as most market players will still be adopting a relatively defensive stance for the time being.
Nevertheless, the easing trade war concerns could still provide some impetus for the key index to end the week on a positive note.
For now, the 1,550 level remains the main hurdle for now, followed by the 1,556 level while the supports are pegged at 1,537 points and at 1,531 points respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
In view of the positive performance in the US, we expect the local bourse to rebound as Bursa Malaysia’s Finance index has risen 8% since the April 9 low, further supported by the 100bps cut in the Statutory Reserve Requirement which injected approximately RM19 bil in liquidity into the banking system.
Traders may look for trading opportunities in lagging banking stocks such as Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd and AMMB Holdings Bhd.
Meanwhile, we noticed the AI theme has regained momentum following the potential revision of the Biden’s administration’s chip restriction act. This could spur trading interest in the construction, utility and technology sectors.
The key index staged a solid breakout and continued to trade above the EMA60 with technical indicators showing positive signals. The MACD histogram continued to expand in the positive territory while the RSI is trending upward above 50.
Resistance is anticipated around 1,557-1,562 while support is located at 1,522–1,527. – May 9, 2025
