BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
The start of the week saw Bursa Malaysia’s selling spree extended to a third session on heightened concerns over the tariff war and increased odds of a recession in the US.
On the FBM KLCI, selling activity picked up pace in the afternoon session that left it at the lowest level since August last year.
Bursa sector indices also tumbled due to the increasingly cautious equity market conditions with the FBM Small Cap and FBM ACE indices shedding some 1.5% each. Expectedly, market breadth stayed negative.
There are few chances for a reprieve from intensified selling over the near-term as global equities faces further downtrend in a flight to safety as the market weathers on-going uncertainties over the global economic outlook that has been marred by escalating trade disputes and increased US recession odds.
On Bursa Malaysia, the selling by foreign funds is likely to persist, hence dampening the near-term recovery hopes as market players are likely to opt out of equities for the time being.
With fewer domestic leads and investor sentiments frayed, market sentiments are also likely to stay morbid with the downward pressure to also prevail which will likely send the key index heading to new year lows.
On the downside, the supports are now at the 1,528-1,530 levels which were last seen in March 2024, followed by 1,521 points. The immediate resistance is around the 1,540-1,542 levels, followed by 1,545 points.
Malacca Securities Research
The local bourse began the week underwater as sentiment was dampened by losses in utilities and telco & media heavyweights.
Similarly, Wall Street traded negatively as risk-off sentiment persisted. We opine that the new US trade policies could lead to increased retaliation from its trade partners, potentially slowing the global economy.
This week, traders will closely monitor the (i) US inflation data; (ii) US Producer Price Index; and (iii) US unemployment claims to gauge the outlook for monetary policy and overall economic sentiment.
On the commodities market, both Brent crude and gold traded below US$69/barrel and US$2,890/oz respectively. Similarly, CPO prices hovered around RM4,488/metric tonne.
The key index continued to trade below the EMA bands with technical indicators signalling weakness. The MACD histogram expanded negatively while the RSI is hovering below 50, indicating weak momentum.
Resistance is anticipated around 1,551-1,556 while support is set at 1,516-1,521. – March 11, 2025
