Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (July 19): The FBM KLCI is seen trading lacklustre today and trade between 1,750 and 1,760, in line with the mixed overnight close at Wall Street.

A fresh setback to U.S. President Donald Trump's domestic agenda on Tuesday wounded an already-limping U.S. dollar and deflated U.S. Treasury yields, according to Reuters.

The collapse of his fellow Republicans' push to overhaul or repeal Obamacare in the U.S. Senate again raised doubts in financial markets about Trump's ability to enact tax cuts and infrastructure spending, it said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 54.99 points, or 0.25 percent, to 21,574.73. But the S&P 500 gained 1.47 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,460.61 and the Nasdaq Composite added 29.87 points, or 0.47 percent, to 6,344.31, said Reuters.

AllianceDBS Research in its evening edition Tuesday said following the weak up close in the preceding day, the FBM KLCI had on July 18 traded marginally lower to 1,752.57.

It said in the absence of stronger selling interest, the benchmark index was moving between the green and red zones throughout the trading sessions before settling at 1,754.92 (down 0.27 points or 0.02%).

“In the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers with 457 stocks ending higher and 385 stocks finishing lower. That gave a market breadth of 1.18 indicating the bulls were in better control,” it said.

AllianceDBS Research said the market saw light follow through selling pressure on July 18 with the benchmark index falling to a day’s low of 1,752.57.

“Market participants were seen unwilling to be aggressive in their selling game at this juncture given the low probability for a profitable trading opportunity.

“Instead of risking investible capital in a lacklustre environment, market participants apparently have chosen to sit on their hands while waiting for a catalyst to trigger the next market direction.

“Sitting on the sidelines may not be seen as a strategy, but it is often viewed as a strategy within a strategy by many investors and traders,” it said.

The research house said following the down close on July 18, there should continue to be a small trading platform between 1,750 and 1,760 for the time being.    

“The analysis of overall market action on July 18 revealed that buying power was weaker than selling pressure.

“As such, the FBM KLCI would likely trade below the 1,752.57 level on July 19,” said AllianceDBS Research.

Based on corporate announcements and news flow yesterday, companies that may be in focus today may include the following: Ekovest Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, IHH Healthcare Bhd, O&C Resources Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd, Spring Gallery Bhd, Chin Hin Group Bhd, Stone Master Corp Bhd and Matang Bhd.

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