BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Berjaya Research
The FBM KLCI took cue from the strong performance on Wall Street last Friday to continue tipping higher at the start of the week.
It also managed to pass the psychological 1,600 level and chalked an intraday high of 1,609 points before ending the session at 1,602 points as foreign selling escalated in the afternoon session.
In the broader market, conditions were mixed with overall market breadth turning negative even as traded volumes picked up to nearly 3 billion shares for the day.
Although the key index broke through the 1,600-points barrier, the upsides were less-than-convincing as it attracted further selling into strength by foreign institutional players, thus preventing a firmer upside.
As a result, the gains were relatively modest yesterday with the follow-through buying interest likely to remain modest ahead.
This could also mean that the key index may struggle to stay above the 1,600 level as the buying momentum is slowing and may also see some reversal from yesterday’s gains.
At the same time, the key index remains overbought following its strong month-to-day recovery while there are also still few leads from the on-going results reporting season to spur further market interest.
For now, the 1,600 level will provide support but if it gives way, the other support is at the 1,590 level. On the other hand, the resistances are at 1,610 points and 1,615 points respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
Despite Wall Street’s negative overnight performance, the local bourse is likely to trade on a positive tone as we believe the upcoming rate-cut expectation may buoy the overall technology stocks.
We noticed buying support in companies like Unisem Bhd, Inari Amerton Bhd and Frontken Corp Bhd which we view as proxies for Apple, TSMC and a potential recovery in China.
In the construction sector, traders may shift attention to (i) key proxies for data centre players as we anticipate new package announcements this month, and (ii) Lim Seong Hai Capital Bhd which we deem undervalued given its robust orderbook coverage ratio of at least 7x.
As a more defensive play, we believe 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings Bhd may benefit from lower input costs given the ringgit’s appreciation toward RM4.20 against the grenback.
The FBM KLCI breached the 1,600 psychological level with technical indicators showing positive signals; the MACD histogram is trading at the positive territory while the RSI has hit the 70 level.
Resistance is anticipated around 1,617-1,622 while support is located at 1,582-1,587. – Aug 26, 2025
