BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Berjaya Research
The FBM KLCI remained downbeat for the fifth straight session on Tuesday after lingering mostly in the negative territory.
Trading activity continues to moderate with 3.36 billion shares traded from 3.53 billion shares in the previous session.
Market breadth also remained negative with 618 decliners outnumbering 509 advancers, suggesting that the selling pressure has yet to fully dissipate.
Looking ahead, the FBM KLCI could potentially stage a mild recovery with sentiment likely to remain tentatively positive in the near term as bargain hunting interest filters back into the market following the recent five-day sell-off.
That said, upsides may remain capped by the absence of strong fresh catalysts as external uncertainties continue to prevail to keep investors on a cautious footing.
Market participants are expected to tune their attention on the upcoming release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes which will be closely scrutinised for further clarity on the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy trajectory, particularly in light of persistent inflation concerns and the uncertain global growth outlook.
Technically, the key index closed on a flattish note with the immediate support pegged at 1,725 points, followed by 1,720 points. Meanwhile, the immediate resistance is located at 1,745 points, followed by 1,750 points.
Malacca Securities Research
Following the continued weakness on Wall Street, we expect the negative sentiment to spill over into the local bourse today.
While the general market is trading with a weaker tone, the utilities sector continues to buck the trend as it benefits from on-going data centre (DC) developments in the country, thus favouring companies like YTL Power International Bhd, Malakoff Corporation Bhd and Ranhill Utilities Bhd.
We also like the pullback in M&E (mechanical and electrical) engineering services provider Kee Ming Group Bhd as it is poised to capture more DC and renewable energy projects moving forward with an unbilled order book of RM183.7 mil which translates into a ~2.9x FY2025 revenue cover ratio.
Lastly, semiconductor IP (intellectual property) designer SkyeChip Bhd (M+ target price: RM1.48) will make its Main Market debut today (May 20).
While the FBM KLCI experienced further pullback, the technical indicators are also showing weakening signals with the MACD histogram having expanded towards the negative territory while the RSI has traded below 50.
Resistance is seen around 1,742-1,747 with support at 1,707-1,712. – May 20, 2026
