BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
Malaysian equities regained some traction to end the week on a firmer note, boosted by bargain hunting on many of the index heavyweights after their recent weakness.
The positivity also permeated to the broader market with most of the sub-indices closing in the positive territory on selected rotational and speculative buying helping even as market breadth was negative for the day.
Traded volumes, meanwhile, remained decent, little changed from a day earlier.
The start of the week could see further support on the heavyweights on optimism that the pandemic conditions may soon ease with the COVID-19 vaccination programme that is schedule to start in earnest this week.
This could help the key index to recoup some of its recent losses and potentially regain the 1,600 points level after seemingly finding support at around the 1,580 levels of late.
Although there is some measure of hesitation over the market’s near-term direction, due in part to the ongoing movement control order (MCO 2.0) that is likely to keep economic conditions subdued, we think such concerns will gradually be lifted as more economic activities are allowed.
The other support is at the 1,570 level, while the interim resistances are at the 1,590-1,595 levels.
Malacca Securities Research
Bucking the regional trend, the FBM KLCI snapped three-day losing streak to close higher on bargain hunting.
Sectors such as telecommunication and technology headed higher following the launch of MyDIGITAL initiative and the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint.
Whereas the key index is subject to further consolidation, we believe the earlier-than-scheduled national vaccine roll-out on coming Wednesday and the declining number of COVID-19 cases should lift the market sentiment and traders may focus on recovery theme again.
The FBM KLCI closed above the EMA120 level after three consecutive losing sessions. Meanwhile, technical indicators turned are mixed as the MACD Histogram extended another red bar, but the RSI climbed above 50.
Hence, despite the rebound move last week, we expect the FBM KLCI to consolidate along 1,560-1,620 over the near term. – Feb 22, 2021
