BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Berjaya Research
The FBM KLCI ended broadly flat after trading in a rangebound manner ahead of the mid-week break.
Trading activity continued to ease with market volume declining to 3.61 billion shares from 3.92 billion shares in the previous session.
Market breadth remained negative with 714 decliners outweighing 482 advancers, suggesting continued weakness across the broader market, particularly among lower liners.
The FBM KLCI is expected to remain range-bound as investors continue to assess the on-going barrage of corporate earnings releases for further clues on earnings prospects and market direction.
With the reporting season gaining momentum, investors are likely to remain selective while profit-taking could cap near-term upside.
In the near term, we expect cautious trading and selective stock picking to prevail with investors likely to focus on companies delivering resilient earnings and constructive outlooks.
Technically, the key index has gapped up to reverse all its intraday gains to close relatively flat. The immediate resistances are envisaged at 1,742 points, followed by 1,750 points. Meanwhile, near-term supports are pegged at 1,711 points and 1,700 points respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI is expected to open firmer following Wall Street’s overnight rebound, supported by easing Treasury yields and softer oil prices.
The technology sector may benefit from recovering semiconductor sentiment.
Meanwhile, AuMas Resources Bhd, CPE Technology Bhd, MClean Technologies Bhd and NationGate Holdings Bhd have each staged technical breakouts, underpinned by their respective catalysts:
- AUMAS by elevated gold prices;
- CPETECH by stronger 4Q FY6/2026 earnings and capacity expansion’
- MCLEAN by continued earnings momentum following a 36.3% year-on-year (yoy) rise in 2Q FY2026 profit; and
- NATGATE by potential benefits from proposed US restrictions on Chinese-made optical transceivers which strengthens its data centre positioning.
The FBM KLCI closed flattish on Monday despite technical indicators showing encouraging signals. The MACD histogram is displaying a rounding bottom pattern while the RSI continues to hold above the 50 level.
Overhead resistance is located around 1,751-1,765 with support anchored at 1,706-1,721. – Aug 26, 2026
