BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
There were continued buying interest on Malaysian equities that allowed the key index to end the day at the 1,580 level.
Rotational buying emerged with banking stocks leading the charge but plantation and energy stocks faltered on lower commodity prices.
Conditions elsewhere, however, were mixed even as market breadth remained positive amid quick profit taking emerging on some of the big movers the day earlier.
Meanwhile, market interest thinned further as volumes tapered again.
With market conditions showing mild signs of improvement, there could be more near-term upsides as bargain hunting activities look to continue, supported by sustained buying from foreign funds.
However, the gains could also be accompanied by volatile conditions as some market players may opt to close out their positions and lock-in profits ahead of the weekend.
The overnight weakness on many key global indices would also keep buying light while the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe and renewed concerns over a bigger-than-expected lift off in interest rates may keep overall market sentiments guarded somewhat.
Therefore, the upsides could be more subdued with near-term resistance pegged at 1,590 points. The 1,600 may still prove to be a significant hurdle for now. The supports are at 1,573 and 1,565 points respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI posted further rebound in tandem with its regional peers amid fading geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine.
However, failure of the Russia-Ukraine talks on cease-fire coupled with inflationary pressure could lead to a more hawkish tone in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting next week.
Hence, the retracement yesterday on Wall Street may put pressure on the local front with emergence of profit taking activities.
On the commodity market, Brent oil price has retreated below US$110/barrel while crude palm oil (CPO) prices remain fairly elevated around the RM7,000/metric tonne level.
The FBM KLCI staged a strong rebound above the resistance at 1,580 and closed above the daily EMA9 level. Technical indicators remained mixed as the MACD Histogram is still below zero while the RSI has improved above 50.
The resistance is located at 1,595-1,620 while the support is envisaged at 1,550, followed by 1,520. – March 11, 2022
