The FBMKLCI closed in positive territory at 1,768.28 (+1.11pt) last Friday after trading in the negative zone last few days. Meanwhile, Asian shares were mostly lower as a rebound in US stocks failed to assuage investor concerns amid political crises in Brazil and Washington. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose less than 0.1%, with more stocks advancing than declining. The FBMKLCI’s top gainers were Petronas Dagangan (+2.8%), Genting Bhd (+2.2%) and British American Tobacco (+1.1%), while the top losers were IJM Corporation (-1.9%), Astro Malaysia Holdings (-1.1%) and AMMB Holdings (-0.73%). In the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 623 to 302 with 364 counters unchanged. Turnover was 3.27b shares valued at RM3.24b. From a technical perspective, the FBMKLCI managed to absorb selling pressure as it recovered and closed in positive territory last Friday. Given the absence of significant change, we maintain our neutral outlook. We maintain our stance that the index may consolidate further given a lack of buying demand at the current level. Nevertheless, we remain bullish over the longer term with the index still on the medium uptrend line. Support and resistance levels are as follows:

• Support: 1,755,1,729
• Resistance: 1,787, 1,800

US stocks closed higher on Friday, as investors shrugged off US political turmoil and piled back into equities amid dovish comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard. At the close in NYSE, the DJIA added 0.69%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.68%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.47%. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,382 to 843 and 37 ended unchanged. On the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1539 rose and 970 declined, while 117 ended unchanged.

Source: UOB Kay Hian Research - 22 May 2017