BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
Malaysian equities lost ground again to end the week on a dour note.
This follows the insipid conditions in regional equity markets that were weighted down by rising bond yields, resulting in the key index following suit and giving up its early session gains to end the day lower.
The selling was again overwhelming with losers ahead of gainers by a big margin as the selling/profit taking activities were also prevalent among the lower liners and broader market shares.
We see market conditions remaining fluid at the start of the month, following the end of the results reporting season that generally offered improved performances on a quarterly basis.
However, there are few longer-term impetuses amid the still relatively indifferent and cautious market environment as market players weigh the economic and corporate earnings recovery prospects that has been tempered due to the lingering lockdown conditions.
As a result, we think that it remains difficult for Malaysian equities to stage a sustainable upsurge for the time being, affected by the lower market confidence and the corresponding lack of buying interest.
Therefore, we think the key index could be hard pressed to make headway and the key index may linger within a tight range of within the 1,570 and 1,580 levels to start the week. The other support and resistance levels are at 1,550 and 1,590 respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
Mirroring regional downtrend, the FBM KLCI ended the week in red despite a final-hour bargain hunting.
However, we believe buying support could emerge as the market sentiment is likely to turn positive following the news on the arrival of China’s CoronaVac vaccine in Malaysia.
Nevertheless, we expect political developments to provide volatility to the market. On the side note, commodities upcycle in crude palm oil and Brent crude oil are likely to sustain over the near to mid-term based on the current momentum.
The FBM KLCI closed slightly below the EMA120 level on a volatile manner. Technical indicators remained mixed as the MACD Histogram extended another green bar, while the RSI remained below 50.
Hence, we believe the trading will be a sideways mode, ranging between 1,570 and 1,620 over the near term. – March 1, 2021
