BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
There were more upsides among Bursa Malaysia stocks as it sustained its recovery for a third straight day on the return of fresh buying interest.
This time around, it was banking stocks that led the key index higher even as market conditions became more tentative.
Nevertheless, the FBM ACE market and FBM Small Cap indices maintained their recovery that enabled market breadth to also stay on the positive side. Traded volumes, meanwhile, tipped up by 7.6%.
After three days of recovery, the FBM KLCI is showing some signs of hesitation yesterday, particularly as it may still find the 1,500 level a formidable level to clear for now.
As a result, market conditions could become choppier ahead of the Thaipusam holiday tomorrow (Jan 25) with some profit taking activities possibly emerging that would also allow for some of the recent gains to be digested.
Even so, the overall market conditions should stay fairly well-supported by the continuing bargain hunting on some of the beaten down stocks.
In addition, there would also be continuing interest on some of the stocks that are likely to be beneficiaries of the potential recovery in external demand in the months ahead.
For the time being, the near-term resistance is at the 1,500 level which is followed by the recent intraday high of 1,503 points. The immediate supports are at the 1,492-1,495 levels, followed the 1,485 level.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI rebounded for the third day with the support seen in mostly banking heavyweights.
On Wall Street, S&P500 and Nasdaq headed higher but the Dow Jones slipped amid a mixed bag of earnings.
Also, traders will be awaiting results from the “Magnificent 7” to determine the direction of the US stock markets.
Other key data that investors may monitor will include the (i) US GDP, (ii) core PCE Index and (iii) US PMI.
Currently, the US dollar index and the US 10-year Treasury yield are slightly positive.
On the commodity markets, Brent crude traded within a narrow range despite the on-going tension in the Middle East and we expect a positive bias view as extreme weather conditions in the US may limit the oil supplies.
The FBM KLCI ended higher for the third consecutive session. The technical readings on the key index were however mixed with the MACD Histogram extending another negative bar while the RSI maintains above the 50 level.
The resistance is envisaged around 1,510-1,520 while the support is set at 1,460-1,470. – Jan 24, 2024