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 rebounded last Friday to end the week just shy of the 1,550 level on the return of mild bargain hunting activities.
Even so, the broader market was more tepid as they closed lower due to the slew of weaker-than-expected corporate results, particularly among plantation stocks.
Consequently, market breadth was negative with the FBM Small Cap and FBM ACE Market indices ending the week lower. Traded volumes, however, picked up and climbed past the four billion shares mark again.
Market conditions are staying relatively steadfast as it is staying comfortably above the 1,500 level of late and should remain so with over the near-term with the encouraging buying support from foreign funds.
This should help to preserve the market’s positivity for now despite the already toppish market conditions.
However, further upsides may become more modest due to the overbought conditions as market players assess corporate results that will be released over the coming week to gauge their prospects in the upcoming quarters.
The immediate resistance is at the 1,550 level which will be followed by the recent high of 1,555 points and 1,563 points respectively. On the flip side, the supports remain at the 1,540 and 1,533 levels respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI ended on a positive tone last week as the results released from YTL Power International Bhd and YTL Corp Bhd were fairly above market’s expectations, translating to further buying support in the utilities sector.
Meanwhile, the US stock market traded mixed for the session as the technology sector took a breather following Nvidia’s results. Several events that the market may be monitoring this week include (i) US GDP, (ii) Core PCE, (iii) unemployment claims and (iv) US Manufacturing PMI data.
Closer to home, buying interest should be sustained, following last week’s momentum as we enter the full-blown corporate earnings season this week. On the commodity market, Brent crude price traded around US$81/barrel.
The FBM KLCI rebounded from a two-day declined. However, the technical readings on the key index were mixed with the MACD Histogram forming a rounding top formation while the RSI maintains above the 50 level.
The resistance is envisaged around 1,560-1,570 while the support is set at 1,520-1,530. – Feb 26, 2024
