BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
Malaysian equities ended the week on a firmer note as it rebounded from the previous day’s sell-down on the back of a return of bargain hunting activities.
This time around, plantation stocks led the gainers list after crude palm oil (CPO) prices surpassed the RM5,000/metric tonne mark.
Lower liners and broader market shares also staged a rebound on the return of market players that saw total traded volumes back above the 4 billion mark. Market breadth also sat comfortably on the positive side.
The near-term outlook is likely to stay stable with the key index to remain mostly range-bound as market players are still scouring for new leads.
This could preserve some of the upside bias as market players re-position their portfolios at the start of the year that may also see the bouts of bargain hunting continuing.
The stable overseas market conditions are also helping to provide the much need support to the key index and to cast aside the ongoing Omicron concerns.
Although the selling pressure is relatively mild for the time being, there could still be some profit taking at the start of the week that could result in a choppy market condition with the 1,540 level to serve as the immediate support followed by the 1,535 level.
On the upside, there is an interim resistance at 1,546 points followed by the 1,550 level.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI wrapped up the first week of 2022 with gains driven mainly by gains in the plantation heavyweights.
However, Wall Street continued its losing streak overnight after the US jobs data showing that the unemployment rate is falling in December 2021 which may suggest that the interest rate hike path could be on track or might hasten in 2022.
Hence, investors may take a cautious approach in the technology sector. Nevertheless, traders may position themselves within the commodity-related sector given the firm CPO and crude oil prices recently.
The CPO price is now hovering above RM4,990/metric tonne while the Brent crude has spiked above US$81/barrel.
The FBM KLCI (+0.6%) rebounded to close at intraday high above the daily EMA9 level. Technical indicators remained positive as the MACD Histogram is flat while the RSI hovered above the 50 level.
The next resistance is envisaged at 1,560 while the support is located at 1,520. – Jan 10, 2022
