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 managed to recoup some of Friday’s losses as it cast aside the US tariff concerns with light bargain hunting helping to shore up the key index yesterday.
For the most part, however, the key index was lifted by gains in banking stocks and selective index-linked stocks as the broader market was still largely listless ahead of the announcement on US import tariffs.
As a result, total losers overwhelmed gainers by more than a 2-to-1 margin with traded volumes little changed at just 2.37 billion shares.
With Malaysia slapped with a 24% reciprocal tariff on imports into the US, Bursa Malaysia stocks are likely to succumb to a fresh wave of selling in what could be seen as a knee jerk reaction.
However, Malaysian products are spared the worse of the tariffs as many other Asian nations are seeing higher tariffs. Moreover, the downsides could be measured as Malaysia’s total direct trades with the US only amounts to about 10% of total trades.
Also, the FBM KLCI’s recent losses have already partly reflected the impending tariffs therefor limiting the downsides, in our view.
Nevertheless, with global equity market conditions to remain dour for the time being, Malaysian equities are also likely to be subdued as market players could still stay on the sidelines for now.
On the downside, the key index could head back to its support at the 1,510-1,513 levels which is followed by the 1,500-1,505 levels. The resistances are at 1,531 points and 1,535 points respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
We maintain our focus on sectors less affected by the reciprocal tariffs such as utilities and consumer products & services as President Trump imposed a 24% reciprocal tariff on Malaysia.
We believe the sub-utility company like MN Holdings Bhd could continue benefiting from Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) contracts.
Meanwhile, we also favour the banking sector as the Malaysian economy is expected to grow at 4.5%-5.5% this year.
Lastly, trading opportunities may persist in gold-related stocks as they have just started the sideways breakout formation coupled with gold prices sustaining their uptrend amid on-going market volatility.
Despite its positive closing, the key index continued to trend below the MA lines with technical indicators showing mixed signals at the current juncture; the MACD histogram continued to expand positively while the RSI is trending below 50.
Resistance is anticipated around 1,541-1,546 while support is set at 1,506-1,511. – April 3, 2025
