BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
Despite lingering above the 1,610 level for much of the day, the key index surrendered its intraday gains to end the day in the red again to extend its losing streak for a sixth day as the consolidation spell remains.
Buying interest was relatively benign due to the lack of leads, both from domestic and foreign sources that left the market mostly directionless.
As a result, lower liners also extended their pullback from last Friday with losers well ahead of gainers for the day.
The FBM KLCI was inching towards a rebound from its ongoing consolidation yesterday but fresh buying interest remains scant.
As it is, there are still few noteworthy leads to entice market players to increase their positions and this is instead seeing more profit taking activities as equity valuations becomes increasingly fair following their strong YTD (year-to-date) gains.
Although profit taking activities may still dominate trades for the time being, the key index could also be looking to break its streak of losses as mild bargain could emerged following the recent selling spell.
Even so, the key index could still linger within the 1,600 and 1,610 levels for now due to the lack of fresh market leads while any rebound could still be relatively benign. The immediate resistance is at 1,610 level, followed by the 1,615 level. Below the 1,600 level, the support is at 1,595 points.
Malacca Securities Research
Profit taking activities emerged on the local front with the FBM KLCI, FBM70 and FBM Small Cap retracing as investors were taking a cautious stance after the recent rally.
Nevertheless, overall sentiment remained positive in the US with retail sales coming in below expectation where the market could be pushing for a rate cut anytime in 2H 2024.
Do note that Nvidia has displaced Microsoft and Apple as the largest market cap companies in the US.
On the commodity markets, Brent crude rebounded further above the US$85/barrel level with expectation that the summer demand may lower oil inventories while gold price stabilised around US$2,330/oz. Meanwhile, CPO (crude palm oil) is still trading within a tight range between RM3,900-RM4,000/metric tonne.
The FBM KLCI index ended lower hovering above the 1,605 level. The technical readings on the key index were mixed with the MACD Histogram forming another negative bar while the RSI maintains above 50.
The resistance is envisaged around 1,620-1,625 while the support is set at 1,585-1,590 – June 19, 2024
