BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
Malaysia stocks went nowhere yesterday amid the emergence of profit taking activities on some of the gainers a day earlier, most notably telecommunication stocks as market players await for a new direction.
The lower liners and broader market shares also made little headway and stayed relatively stable although but market breadth was slightly negative as selling still dominated trades.
At the same time, traded volumes were unchanged from a day earlier.
The holding pattern looks to sustain for the time being after the FBM KLCI’s recent lift to pass the 1,500 level where it is also looking to consolidate its position around the level.
As noted, much of the country’s improving economic undertone has been reflected in the recent market uptrend with further gains requiring new impetuses to emerge.
In the absence of new leads, however, the broadly sideway trend is likely to continue for now as the recent gains are digested with the key index to hover around the 1,500 level for the time being.
There are interim supports at the 1,505 and 1,510 levels while the 1,520 level is the immediate hurdle followed by the 1,526 level.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI saw a mild setback despite a bullish momentum across regional markets; the FBM KLCI’s earlier gains faded in the afternoon session.
In view of the softer Wall Street performance, sentiment on the local bourse may turn cautious as attention shifted back to the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy following the release of its July meeting minutes.
Nevertheless, investors may be on the lookout for the upcoming earnings season with stocks with solid earnings growth under this environment to be under the spotlight.
Commodities-wise, Brent crude rose above US$93/barrel while crude palm oil (CPO) continued to hover above RM4,100/metric tonne.
The FBM KLCI ended with an inverted hammer candle but still remained above its daily EMA120 mark. Technical indicators turned positive as the MACD Histogram moved above zero while the RSI is still hovering above 50.
Resistance is envisaged at 1,530-1,560 while the key 1,480-1,500 will act as the supports. – Aug 18, 2022
