The FBMKLCI rose 9.47pt to close at 1,754.42 yesterday. Meanwhile, Asian stocks advanced with materials and financial companies leading a rebound from Monday’s selloff. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7%. The FBMKLCI’s top gainers were Petronas Dagangan (+4.5%), Westports Holdings (+3.6%), and RHB Bank (+3.1%) while the top losers were Sime Darby (-0.6%) and British American Tobacco (-0.2%). In the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 513 to 366 with 389 counters unchanged. Turnover was 3.07b shares valued at RM2.42b. From a technical viewpoint, the FBMKLCI whipsaw movement yesterday posed an uncertain outlook despite the index closing above both the 7-day and 21-day EMA lines. Given the earlier mixed connotation, the FBMKLCI remains unperturbed by a lack of domestically driven catalysts, as selling pressure has been gradually absorbed in the past few days. A positive follow-through from this level would place the index back on its bullish course, and is consistent with the growing momentum as shown by an uptick in RSI. Moving forward, we expect mild consolidation within the 1,738-1,758 region with an upper breakout in the cards once selling pressure has fully normalised. Support and resistance levels are as follows:

• Support: 1,729,1,713
• Resistance: 1,760, 1,787

US stocks posted broad-based gains on Tuesday, with the DJIA snapping its eight-day losing streak. Investors cheered better-than-expected economic data, which overshadowed concerns about President Trump’s ability to push a tax reform package through congress. The DJIA gained 0.73% to settle at 20,701.5 and the S&P500 edged higher by 0.73%, to 2,358.57. The NASDAQ Composite index rose 0.6% to settle at 5,875.14. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,299 to 920 and 42 ended unchanged. On the Nasdaq SE, 1,507 rose and 1,004 declined, while 113 ended unchanged.

Source: UOB Kay Hian Research - 29 Mar 2017