BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Berjaya Research
The FBM KLCI capped off the week on Friday on a positive note, driven by gains in banking heavyweights that was supported by the return of foreign funds.
The broader market also advanced in tandem. Meanwhile, trading volume rose to 2.83 billion shares from 2.79 billion shares in the previous session as investors capitalise on the positive market breadth with 616 advancers against 469 decliners.
Backed by solid economic data whereby the unemployment rate declined to 2.9% in November 2025 – the lowest level since November 2014 – along with solid retail sales data which rose 6.4% year-on-year (yoy) in November 2025, the FBM KLCI was fairly upbeat last Friday.
Looking ahead, the FBM KLCI is expected to maintain a positive bias tone, underpinned by resilient domestic fundamentals and continued interest in selected blue-chip names.
While near-term gains may turn gradual, sentiment could be further supported should the US inflation print slated to be release later tonight show signs of moderation, hence reinforcing expectations of a more accommodative interest rate outlook which bodes well for equities markets.
Technically, the key index has formed a bullish candlestick to breakout above the 1,685 points resistance and could push the key index towards the next resistance located at 1,694 points, followed by 1,700 points.
Meanwhile, the supports are located at 1,665 points and 1,658 points respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI rebounded on Friday, supported by gains in banking heavyweights.
As most banking heavyweights rallied, we believe investors could consider Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd as an alternative given its lower P/B (price-to-book) ratio of 0.66x and dividend yield of 6.49%.
Meanwhile, Affin Bank Bhd has also started to show a recovery in its share price and we expect the bank to benefit from increased banking activity in 2026, supported by rising development projects across Sarawak while Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd could similarly benefit from the state’s on-going infrastructure developments.
Lastly, we also favour Mitrajaya Holdings Bhd’s breakout as we believe it could secure more data centre projects moving forward.
Friday session saw the local bourse rebounded with technical indicators showing signs of improvement as the MACD histogram approached zero while the RSI is still trading above 50.
Resistance is anticipated around 1,701-1,706 while support is seen at 1,666-1,671. – Jan 12, 2026
