BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
Malaysian stocks remained on the ascend yesterday as it regained the 1,450 level in tandem with the upsides in regional indices that were buoyed by talks that China will re-open its borders soon.
The gains also bucked the weakness on Wall Street the night before. On Bursa Malaysia, banking and telco stocks were again the main movers with the lower liners and broader market shares also making further headway. Market breadth was positive but traded volumes slipped.
Market conditions could turn choppier in the day ahead following the overnight steep losses among key global indices after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 basis points (bps) as expected but flagged further hikes ahead.
At the same time, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is widely tipped to lift domestic interest rates by another 25bps later today that could also leave market sentiments guarded.
With market conditions likely to become more unsettled, Malaysian equities are likely to retreat again with the key index set to slip below the psychological 1,450 level with the ensuing support pegged at around the 1,440-1,443 levels.
It these levels give way, the support will fall to 1,433 points. On the other hand, the hurdles are at the recent high closing of 1,460 points and 1,468 points respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI rebounded as investors saw the recent sell-down as a buy-the-dip opportunity, positioning for the 15th General Election (GE15) but trading activities were relatively quiet as investors remained cautious prior to the US Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and BNM’s meeting.
Nevertheless, we expect selling pressure to emerge in the Asian stock markets after the US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the hawkish stance to combat stubbornly-elevated inflation which may dampen the attractiveness on interest rate sensitive sector such as technology.
Commodities-wise, Brent crude price traded above US$96/barrel while crude palm oil (CPO) has crept above RM4,400/metric tonne.
The FBM KLCI rebounded from intraday losses to close above its daily EMA60 level. Technical indicators remained positive as the MACD Histogram extended a positive bar while the RSI hovered above 50.
Resistance is envisaged along 1,465-1,480 while support is set at 1,400-1,440. – Nov 3, 2022
