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 continues to post minute losses as it ended Thursday with a near one-point loss and extended its streak of losses for a fifth straight day.
Overall market conditions remained subdued, hampered by the continuing recession fears and the lack of fresh leads.
Energy stocks were again the big losers on weaker oil prices while lower liners were mixed-to-lower as market breadth was again on the negative side.
Traded volumes also fell slightly.
We see market conditions remaining subdued heading into the weekend as fresh buying interest has dissipated which may leave stocks to drift further.
At the same time, market players are still wary over further interest rate hikes in the US even as the upcoming rate increase next week could be more modest at 50 basis points (bps) compared to the previous few increases of 75 bps each.
As such, the wait-and-see stance is likely to prevail for the time being, and with foreign institutions still shedding their shareholding on Malaysian equities, the FBM KLCI’s downside risk remains.
On the downside, the supports remain at 1,460 points with the next psychological level at 1,450 points. The resistances also remain at 1,470 and 1.480 points respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI was dragged down marginally by the sell-down in PETRONAS-linked heavyweights; the five-day net foreign selling stood at year-to-date high of RM938.8 mil.
The global stock markets are deploying a wait-and-see approach as investors are waiting for more details from the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting by focusing on the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision next week.
Nevertheless, we expect some bargain hunting activities to emerge on the domestic front following the COVID-19 easing measures in China.
Commodities-wise, Brent crude price traded above US$76/barrel while crude palm oil (CPO) price hovered above RM3,950/metric tonne.
The FBM KLCI recorded marginal losses amid persisted downbeat trading. Technical indicators remained mixed as the MACD Histogram extended a negative bar while the RSI is still hovering above 50.
The support is set along 1,450-1,460 while the resistance is monitored at 1,480-1,500. – Dec 9, 2022
