BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
The key index surrendered its intraday gains to settle virtually unchanged yesterday as buying interest thinned throughout the day.
This follows Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) lowering its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for the year, citing a more cautious domestic and external environment.
Utility stocks were the main losers while technology and healthcare stocks were the big winners. Despite the insipid conditions, however, there were more gaining stocks for the day with traded volume rising above the three billion mark.
Market conditions remain fluid as there are still few noteworthy catalysts to provide the necessary lift. Instead, cautiousness remains with lingering geopolitical and cost-push concerns keeping market players wary.
As a result, sentiments are likely to stay guarded with the key index poised to drift further. This also makes the 1,600 level a significant hurdle to clear over the near term as fresh buying is still anaemic and is likely to remain so until a new direction is found.
There are interim resistances at 1,590 and 1,595 points with the 1,580 level being the immediate support. Below that, the other support is at 1,577 points.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI ended flat with focus seen in small cap and lower liners. As prospect of ending the Russia-Ukraine war remains uncertain following little progress made on the peace talks earlier, we opine that the market will remain in a consolidation phase at least over the near term.
However, investors may focus on the re-opening of borders in April and the declining COVID-19 cases on the local front; these could provide potential trading opportunities within recovery-themed stocks.
On the commodity market, crude oil price rebounded above the US$110/barrel mark while crude palm oil (CPO) traded below RM6,000/metric tonne.
The FBM KLCI finished flat as the key index continued hovering below its daily EMA20 level. Technical indicators are mixed as the Histogram has been declining while the RSI is hovering above 50.
Next support is pegged around 1,550-1,560 while resistance is set at 1,600. – March 31, 2022
