BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
Despite making small gains for most of the day, the FBM KLCI ended the day slightly lower as profit taking dominated trades towards the end of the session.
Profit taking was also seen on the broader market with many lower liners also retreating from last Friday’s upsides that saw losers piping gainers for the day.
However, the FBM Small Cap and ACE indices managed to eke out minor gains to sustain their uptrend with traded volumes still touching the 4.0 billion shares mark.
The FBM KLCI may still be attempting to stay above the 1,462 level to sustain the market’s near-term positive trend albeit there could be more mild profit taking in the offing following last week’s gains.
At the same time, there are fewer market developments following the end of the corporate results reporting season with market players scouring for new leads that could slow the upsides.
Nevertheless, the continuing gains on many global equity markets should still help the key index to preserve most of its recent gains even as there appears to be some near-term hesitation.
Therefore, the key index could trend within a tight range for now with the 1,460 level to provide immediate support, followed by the 1,455 level. The hurdles, meanwhile, remain at 1,472 points and at the 1,480 level.
Malacca Securities Research
After a significant run in the lower liners, the market stayed muted yesterday. We expect the consolidation may continue for the near term as (i) Australia (today) and Malaysia (Thursday, Sept 7) will announce their interest rate decision, (ii) China’s PMI and export data will be released, and (iii) Australia’s GDP will be unveiled tomorrow (Sept 6).
Hence, traders may trade cautiously ahead of these events. Any further slowdown in China economic activities may dampen the risk appetite on the stock markets.
Nevertheless, domestic catalysts such as both the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) and New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030) blueprints may support the local stock markets at least for the near term.
Commodities-wise, Brent crude traded above the US$88/barrel while crude palm oil (CPO) prices are trading in a consolidation phase below RM4,000/metric tonne.
The FBM KLCI traded flat but still closed above the 1,460 level. The MACD Histogram has formed a positive bar while the RSI is hovering above 50. Given the technical readings are positive, we believe the FBM KLCI may continue its upward tone in the near term.
Resistance is at 1,470-1,480 while the support is envisaged around 1,440-1,450. – Sept 5, 2023
