KUALA LUMPUR: There remains bullish momentum on the domestic market but gains are expected to be capped by concerns over the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish tone and the economic downturn in China.
On the local front, the approaching state elections are adding to further uncertainty among investors.
At the opening bell, the benchmark FBM KLCI was up 1.03 points to 1,395.7 as Wall Street proved resilient overnight despite expectations of a sell-off following Fed chair Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress.
“In our view, the market may remain cautiously optimistic while monitoring the development from global central banks, as well as the six-state elections in Malaysia especially after the Kelantan state assembly dissolved yesterday,” said Malacca Securities Research.
“Technical indicators were set to turn slightly positive as the MACD Histogram extended a positive bar, while the RSI is approaching 50.
“Resistance is envisaged along 1,400-1,440, while the support is set around 1,370,” it added.
Following the performance of recent days, bank counters are taking a breather with Maybank dropping one sen to RM8.74, Public Bank dropping one sen to RM3.91 Hong Leong Bank sliding four sen to RM19.
MPI rose 22 sen to RM28.30, spurred by gains in global technology counters, while Gamuda gained 13 sen to RM4.38 following its recent earnings announcement.
IGB jumped 16 sen to RM2.15 while Pertama Digital added five sen to RM2.79.
Among actives, Fintec was flat at one sen, SMRT fell four sen to 80.5 sen and SCIB gained 0.5 sen to 43 sen.
– The Star