BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
The key index was range-bound yesterday, trending within a tight range with the buying interest staying lacklustre albeit the lower liners and broader market shares saw increased rotational plays that helped market breadth to end the day on a positive note.
Much of the hesitation was due to the continuing market consolidation after the recent upsides, but a late haul on some of the heavyweights allowed the key index to end the day with slight gains.
Looking ahead, we think that the key index could continue to post minor gains, buoyed by the Government’s latest RM20 bil stimulus measures that could bolster spending as well as to ease the financial burden of some of the most affected economic sectors due to the pandemic conditions.
However, with only a 12-month fee waiver for new listings on Bursa Malaysia, we see limited immediate impact to the market except that it would add depth to the market when more companies take advantage of the lower listing cost to list in due course.
Therefore, we think that there will be a muted reaction to the latest stimulus measure although we still think the market could tip higher to re-test the 1,630 level in tandem to the strong overnight performance on Wall Street.
For now, we think that the year-high level of around 1,640 will be a formidable hurdle for now. Meanwhile, the supports remain at the 1,620 and 1,620 levels respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI extended mild gains for the third session driven by buying interest prior to the Prime Minister’s announcement of another stimulus package – “Pemerkasa”.
The RM20 bil economic stimulus package includes several programmes such as an increase in micro credit financing and the extension of wage subsidy which we believe will strengthen the economic recovery and market sentiment moving forward.
Meanwhile, the Government intends to implement a more targeted approach in combating the COVID-19 pandemic to replace the movement control order (MCO) nationwide or within a state.
The FBM KLCI ended marginally higher yesterday under a cautious. Technical indicators remained mixed as the MACD Histogram has extended another red bar, while the RSI remained above the 50 level.
We believe the key index is likely to trade in consolidation phase with an upward bias mode. Resistance is set at 1,650-1,660, while support is pegged around 1,580-1,600. – March 18, 2021
