BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
The FBM KLCI remains largely range-bound yesterday as the lack of leads resulted in its constituents to continue drifting.
For most of the session, the key index lingered within a tight range but was mostly in the negative territory before mild buying support narrowed the losses at the close.
The broader market, however, was more sanguine with many lower liners sustaining their recovery albeit market breadth was still in the negative territory amid the low traded volumes.
We see near-term market conditions staying subdued as the cautiousness over the state of the global economy has re-emerged following the latest spate of data that points to sustained economic weakness.
In addition, domestic market conditions are also still toppish following the strong upside nearly a month ago that has largely reflected the market’s fundamentals.
As a result, the key index could continue to consolidate over the near-term which is also partly due to fewer domestic leads following the end of the results reporting season.
On the downside, the immediate support is pegged at the 1,670-1,672 levels, followed by the 1,658 level. Meanwhile, the hurdles are at the 1,680 and 1,685 levels respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
Bursa Malaysia ended on a mixed note as traders shifted their focus from heavyweights to small-cap and lower-liner stocks.
In the US, stock markets closed significantly lower, dragged down by Nvidia which saw nearly 10% of its value or US$279 bil wiped out in a single session.
Additionally, the ISM manufacturing data came in at 47.2, indicating continued contraction in business activity for August.
Looking ahead, traders will be closely watching several jobs reports with the non-farm payroll data for August set to be released on Friday.
In the commodity markets, Brent crude dropped sharply due to weak economic data from China while gold prices continued to trade sideways around the US$2,500/oz mark. Elsewhere, CPO (crude palm oil) prices remained above the RM3,900/metric tonne level
The FBM KLCI index ended lower towards the 1,676 level. However, the technical readings on the key index were positive with the MACD histogram forming another positive bar and the RSI trended above 50.
The resistance is envisaged around 1,691-1,696 while the support is set at 1,656-1,661. – Sept 4, 2024
