BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
Key index stocks rose yesterday in line with gains in regional markets following Friday’s advances on Wall Street with a late push on selected index heavyweights providing the lift.
Part of the gains were also due to the end-of-quarter bargain hunting activities even as the rest of the market was generally on a cautious mode with many of the lower liners and broader market stocks closing in the red.
Volumes improved slightly, but tepid conditions still prevail on the overall.
The key index could come under renewed selling pressure again with glove maker stocks potentially seeing fresh selling pressure after the US banned Top Glove Corp Bhd’s production that could dampen sentiments on the sector over the near term.
This is likely to undo some of the gains attained yesterday with the key index likely to dip again, nullifying support on some of the index heavyweights.
With sentiments likely to be pushed back, we think that quick profit taking actions could also emerge and this would exacerbate the market’s weakness.
The renewed selling could send the key index back to the 1,600 level, but if the selling persists, the key index could find support at the 1,590 level.
The hurdles, meanwhile, are pegged at the 1,616 and 1,620 levels respectively.
Malacca Securities Research
Mirroring the regional positive performance, the FBM KLCI extended last Friday’s gains as market sentiment was lifted by higher year-on-year trade surplus data announced yesterday.
Meanwhile, Malaysia will retain its membership in FTSE World Government Bond Index.
With the country’s COVID-19 daily confirmed cases falling below 1,000 – the lowest since December 2020 – we believe the local bourse is generally on an uptrend move, barring any unpredicted political developments.
Commodity-wise, crude palm oil (CPO) price has seen some improvement following three days of pullback.
The FBM KLCI defended its position above the 1,600 psychological level after an eleventh-hour buying.
Technical indicators turned mixed as the MACD Histogram has turned into a green bar, while the RSI was hovering below the 50 level.
We expect the key index to trade higher over the near term with resistance pegged at 1,625-1,645 while support is set at 1,580-1,600. – March 30, 2021
