BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
Although the FBM KLCI was mostly in the red yesterday, it managed to post modest gains towards the end of the session on late bargain hunting activities.
This allowed the key index to break Friday’s weakness as the gains were also in line with the recovering regional indices.
On the key index, it was plantation and oil & gas (O&G) heavyweights that lifted it higher but broader market conditions stayed morbid as selling persisted which saw total losers beating gainers by a 2-to-1 margin with volumes dropped again to below 3 billion shares.
After yesterday’s rebound, the key index may attempt to find further near-term stability despite lingering concerns over the Middle East conflict that had an insignificant impact on its performance thus far.
At the same time, domestic players have absorbed the sustained foreign selling, thus shielding stocks from steeper falls.
Nevertheless, market interest remains insipid due to the continuing cautiousness over the on-going Middle East conflict that could weigh on sentiments for longer.
Also, the market remains wary over the US tariffs on imports where there is little progress in the negotiations with its trading partners ahead of the July deadline when the temporary exemptions end.
Under the prevailing environment, the FBM KLCI could continue on its mostly sideway trend between the 1,510 and 1,530 levels for now with the other support and resistance levels set at 1,516 points and 1,523 points respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
Despite conflicting reports on Iran’s ceasefire stance, trading opportunities may persist in the gold and O&G-related counters.
Meanwhile, local solar players should benefit in the long run with Tenaga Nasional Bhd spending RM43 bil on grid upgrades to support clean energy coupled with policies like NETR (National Energy Transition Roadmap) and CRESS (Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme).
We favour Solarvest Holdings Bhd which recently secured a 25-year power purchase agreement with the Brunei government for a 30MWac solar PV (photovoltaic) power plant, the largest solar PV plant in Brunei.
Lastly, traders can look into the plantation sector following CPO (crude palm oil) breakout yesterday with Bloomberg indicated yield of more than 10% for Innoprise Plantations Bhd.
The key index continued to hover below the MA (moving average) lines but the technical indicators are recovering as the MACD histogram has expanded above zero while the RSI is approaching the 50 mark.
Resistance is anticipated at around 1,534-1,539 while support is located at 1,499-1,504. – June 17, 2025
