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 maintained its recovery to end the week on a firmer note, extending its rebound for a second straight day on sustained bargain hunting.
This also allowed the FBM KLCI to end the week near the 1,540 level with the rebound largely in tandem with the regional market upsides that were buoyed by expectations of interest rate cuts.
The broader market, however, was more subdued and mixed on mild profit taking that saw total losers just ahead of gainers for the day. Also, trade thinned to just over 3 billion shares.
Despite the continuing recovery, market conditions are still largely on an indifferent note, hampered by the lack of leads even as the US Federal Reserve has reiterated its plan to trim interest rates later in the year.
As it is, market players are angling for more positive corporate and economic developments, both domestic and overseas, before making further moves.
In addition, the FBM KLCI has also made decent headway since the start of the year and new impetuses are required to haul it higher, particularly to climb past the psychological 1,550 level that has proven to be a significant hurdle for the time being.
As such, we think the key index may now be attempting to build up a base around the psychological level and trend within the 1,530 and 1,550 levels which could be a springboard for further gains when there is further clarity on the market’s direction.
In the interim, the other support and resistance levels are at 1,538 and 1,545 points respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI extended its rebound with the help of banking, telco and plantation heavyweights.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets could have hit the resistance after price action reversed throughout the session with selling pressure noticed within Nvidia after the release of mixed jobs data for February.
For this week, we may anticipate a softer tone of upside move on the FBM KLCI and FBM Small Cap following the weaker sentiment from the US.
On the commodity markets, Brent crude fell below US$82/barrel while gold price surged towards an all-time-high zone. The FCPO (crude palm oil futures) is currently trading near the psychological level of RM4,100/metric tonne.
After forming a hammer candle on the FBM KLCI, the key index extended the rebound higher. The technical readings on the key index, however were negative with the MACD Histogram extending another negative bar while the RSI approaching 50.
The resistance is envisaged around 1,550-1,555 while the support is set at 1,515-1,520. – March 11, 2024
