BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Berjaya Research
The FBM KLCI retreated yesterday, ending a two-day uptrend on profit taking activities.
However, the pull-back was relatively benign after the key index managed to recover most of its intraday losses as there were still bouts of buying support on some of the index heavyweights.
In the broader market, conditions were more subdued with most Bursa sector indices ending lower, leaving losing stocks to beat gaining ones. Traded volumes, meanwhile, were little changed from a day earlier.
With a consolidation due to the overbought conditions, the FBM KLCI’s retreat could extend into a second day amid the still thin buying interest and sustained foreign selling that would curtail the near-term upside potential.
As it is, there are still few noteworthy leads with market players awaiting for more corporate results to be released before month-end to assess their prospects for the rest of the year.
In addition, the persistent foreign selling which is dampening the upsides could place the market in a defensive mode after the strong recovery in August thus far.
Nevertheless, a consolidation spell should be welcomed for the key index to take a breather that may allow the key index to build up momentum to test the psychological 1,600 level in due course.
In the interim, the key index could drift and hover around the 1,580 and 1,590 levels with the other support pegged at 1,575 points.
Malacca Securities Research
Tracking the weakness in the US, the FBM KLCI is expected to trade on a mixed note.
Meanwhile, the plantation sector outperformed yesterday, driven by gains in SD Guthrie Bhd (SDG) following the SDG-Gamuda Bhd collaboration on developing solar farms on its unused and unproductive land with a potential capacity of up to 1.2GW.
We view this development positively as it (i) creates a new income stream from renewable energy; and (ii) enhances the value of its idle land.
With a consensus target price of RM5.22, we see any price pullback of SDG as a buy-on-dip opportunity.
Meanwhile, traders can monitor Destini Bhd, Swift Energy Technology Bhd and 3REN Bhd for potential trading opportunities following their recent breakouts.
Despite yesterday’s correction, the FBM KLCI is still supported above all the MA (moving average) lines with technical indicators showing positive signals; the MACD histogram is trading at the positive territory while the RSI is nearing 70.
Resistance is anticipated around 1,603-1,608 while support is located at 1,568-1,573. – Aug 21, 2025
