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 bucked the region’s weakness trend to forge ahead yesterday, even as it ended well below its intraday high when quick profit taking actions set-in the afternoon session.
Much of its gains were contributed by oil & gas (O&G) stocks as oil prices surged to offset glove maker stocks that saw a quick retreat.
The broader market environment, however, was mixed with many stocks, especially technology-related, giving up their intraday gains to end the session lower as selling/profit taking dominated the afternoon session.
While we expected the key index to post further gains and to stay above the 1,600 points level, the upsides were much firmer than expected, riding on the renewed interest on selected O&G heavyweights that helped to reverse the recent downtrend.
With sentiments on the heavyweights improving, we see further near-term gains, albeit we also think the gains could be punctuated by bouts of profit taking after the past two days’ gains that could again limit the upsides, particularly on selected gaming and O&G stocks that were the main movers.
Furthermore, market participation has yet to pick up substantially and this indicates a still cautious undertone that is keeping many players on the sidelines.
On the upside, the hurdles are located at the 1,620-1,625 levels, whereas the supports are pegged at 1,600 points, followed by the 1,590 level.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI extended its winning streak and outperformed its regional peers as recovery play gained strength, offsetting the losses in glove heavyweights.
The shift in investors’ interest to recovery play stocks, coupled with the sell-down on Wall Street may continue to weigh on the technology sector.
Commodity-wise, crude palm oil (CPO) price has surged near its 10-year high around RM3,963 per tonne level.
Meanwhile, investors may look forward to Malaysia’s unemployment rate today. At this moment, we believe the key index should hold above the 1,600 level.
The FBM KLCI closed above the 1,600 level for the second session. Technical indicators turned positive as the MACD Histogram has extended another green bar, while the RSI is hovering above 50.
With that, we expect the FBM KLCI to sustain above 1,600, with the resistance set around 1,620, while the support is pegged around 1,580. – March 9, 2021
