BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
The FBM KLCI succumbed to late profit taking on the holiday-shortened trading on Monday, bucking the positive trend among Asian indices that rose in tandem with the recovery on Wall Street.
Sime Darby Plantation Bhd was among the main loser following the US sanction on its palm products for allegedly using convict labour.
Nevertheless, market breadth stayed positive as many of the lower liners and broader market shares ended higher.
Although the key index retreated on Monday, we think it could be short-lived amid the big comeback of global stocks over the past few days that we see providing an impetus for Malaysian equities to mount a quick rebound.
As it is, we think that stocks could play catch-up as market conditions have become calmer following easing of concerns over the US Federal Reserve’s tapering moves.
However, the rebound may still be limited as many market players are still on their Lunar New Year break, hence few domestic impetuses to promote a stronger rebound.
On the upside, the immediate resistance is at the 1,515 level followed by the 1,520 level. The supports, on the other hand, are at 1,508 and the psychological 1,500 level.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI took a pause and retreated on the half-day trading session on Monday.
While we think market sentiment may stage a rebound by tracking the gains on Wall Street, the upside could be capped over the near term with lower trading activities following the Chinese New Year break.
On a side note, investors may be eying the US, Malaysia and Eurozone’s Markit PMI which will be released today.
Commodities-wise, crude oil is hovering around the US$90/barrel mark while the crude palm oil (CPO) price hovered above RM5,500/metric tonne level.
The FBM KLCI retreated as the key index failed to close above the SMA50 and daily EMA9 level. Technical indicators were negative as the MACD Histogram has extended a negative bar while the RSI hovered below 50.
Support is located at 1,505 while the resistance is envisaged around 1,530-1,570. – Feb 3, 2022
