KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): The FBM KLCI is set to trade cautiously today ahead of the tabling of Budget 2018 at 4pm.

However, the firmer overnight close at Wall Street could help boost sentiment at the local market.

The euro had its worst day against the dollar in 16 months on Thursday after the European Central Bank began weaning the euro zone off loose monetary policy, while U.S. Treasury yields rose slightly, hurt by weak demand at an auction of 7-year notes, according to Reuters.

The dollar index rose 0.99 percent, with the euro down 1.35 percent to $1.1653 after the ECB said it would cut its bond purchases in half to 30 billion euros a month from January. However, it hedged its bets by extending asset purchases by nine months given low inflation, it said.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed higher, boosted by upbeat corporate results on one of the busiest days of third-quarter earnings. Seventy-four percent of 231 S&P companies have beat profit expectations as of Thursday, said Reuters.

The Dow rose 71.4 points, or 0.31 percent, to 23,400.86, the S&P 500 gained 3.25 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,560.4 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 7.12 points, or 0.11 percent, to 6,556.77, it said.

Based on corporate announcements and news flow yesterday, stocks in focus today may include: Public Bank Bhd, Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd, Sumatec Resources Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, GDex Express Carrier Bhd, Cocoaland Holdings Bhd, Ancom Bhd, WZ Satu Bhd, Pavilion REIT, TRIplc Bhd and Guocoland (M) Bhd.