BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Berjaya Research
The FBM KLCI closed marginally higher on Thursday but surrendered most of its intraday gains by the close.
Trading activity improved to 4.50 billion shares from 3.94 billion shares in the previous session.
Market breadth, however, turned negative with 678 decliners outpacing 493 advancers as profit taking activities emerged within the broader market.
The FBM KLCI may be susceptible to a near-term pullback following its recent string of gains as investors could turn more cautious amid potential profit-taking activities.
Market participants will also closely monitor the release of Malaysia’s latest inflation data slated to be release later today with a benign reading likely to reinforce expectations of a stable domestic monetary policy backdrop while any upside surprise could weigh on sentiment by fuelling concerns over interest rate expectations.
Still, external developments will continue to play a greater role in shaping the local bourse sentiment. Technically, the key index has formed a gap up, but reversed most of its intraday gains.
A potential pullback could be on the cards with the near-term support envisaged at the 1,700 psychological level, followed by 1,686 points. Meanwhile, the immediate resistances are pegged at 1,718-1,732 points.
Malacca Securities Research
Following the retreat in oil prices which relieves margin compression by lowering logistics and supply chain costs, positive sentiment is likely to sustain across the consumer sector.
Decisive breakouts were observed in 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings Bhd, Eco-Shop Marketing Bhd and MR D.I.Y. Group (M) Bhd.
Elsewhere, Empire Premium Food Bhd which is currently in a rebound phase is pending a further breakout which is supported by its aggressive expansion plan to open another 15 new outlets in FY3/2027, thus bringing its total store count to 158.
Lastly, we anticipate the FBM KLCI will extend its bullish momentum following the official signing of the US-Iran peace deal which will directly benefit banking heavyweights.
As the FBM KLCI rebounded, its technical indicators are also suggesting improving signals at this current juncture with the MACD histogram having tilted towards the positive region while the RSI is still expanding above 50.
Resistance is seen around 1,726-1,731 with support at 1,691-1,696. – June 19, 2026
