BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
A strong pickup in glove maker stocks helped the FBM KLCI to chalk up decent gains yesterday in an otherwise morbid session where trade was still thin.
Gains among glove maker stocks were due to the resurgent of COVID-19 cases while most other stocks pulled back on the renewed pandemic concerns.
As a result, market breadth was overwhelmingly negative with many of the lower liners and broader market shares retreating, particularly FBM ACE shares as its index slipped some 5.0%.
Despite yesterday’s gains which were largely from glove maker stocks, market sentiments are still mostly dour on fewer convincing leads to induce fresh buying.
Meanwhile, concerns over a possible fourth wave of the Coronavirus outbreak will continue to keep market players guarded as the corporate earnings recovery may stall if further movement restrictions are implemented again.
As such, only selected healthcare stocks may still see firm following, while other stocks may dither ahead of the weekend despite the gains in overseas indices overnight as profit taking/selling may still be prevalent due to the rising market uncertainties.
On the downside, the 1,600 level is the immediate support, followed by the 1,590 level. Meanwhile, the immediate hurdles are pegged between the 1,610-1,620 levels.
Malacca Securities Research
The FBM KLCI marched higher to brush off the negative sentiment on the broader market, powered by the buying interest in glove counters as global COVID-19 cases ticked higher.
Although the key index may trend higher in line with overnight gains in Wall Street, concerns over a possible fourth wave to hit the country may continue to dampen investors’ sentiment with the daily COVID-19 confirmed cases breaching the 2,000 mark yesterday.
Commodities-wise, both the crude palm oil (CPO) and oil prices climbed with the latter marking its fourth straight winning streak.
The FBM KLCI extended its gains to finish above the 1,600 psychological level and the daily EMA 20 level.
Technical indicators turned positive as the MACD Histogram has turned into a green bar, while the RSI was hovering above the 50 level.
Should the key index extended its uptrend move, the resistance is pegged along 1,615-1,635, while supported is set at 1,545-1,565. – April 16, 2021
