The FBMKLCI continued to rise by 5.48pt to close at 1,770.61 yesterday, buoyed by positive sentiment in the overnight US market. Meanwhile, Asian technology stocks climbed along with US equity-index futures after results from Apple buoyed sentiment in the sector. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.1% to 161.27 as of 4:38 pm in Hong Kong after swinging between gains and losses at least 20 times. The FBMKLCI’s top gainers were MISC (+3.3%), Genting Bhd (+0.9%) and British American Tobacco (+0.9%), while the top losers were Hap Seng Consolidated (-0.7%), Genting Malaysia (-0.7%) and IOI Corporation (-0.5%). In the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 446 to 384 with 364 counters unchanged. Turnover was 1.80b shares valued at RM1.75b. The FBMKLCI managed to pare down earlier losses to close higher yesterday after strong interest placed the index in positive territory despite weaker sentiment across the board. Nevertheless, the index movement was in line with our expectation of range-bound movement within the immediate support and resistance of 1,760-1776 given the lack of domestic and external catalysts for the time being. Violation of either barrier would in our view prolong the upward or downward movement respectively. However, long-term bias remains on the upside. Support and resistance levels are as follows:

• Support: 1,752,1,742
• Resistance: 1,787, 1,800

The rally in the Dow showed no signs of ending, closing at a record high on Thursday, led by a jump in shares of Apple after the tech giant posted better-than-expected earnings for the quarter on Wednesday after markets closed. The DJIA closed higher at 22,014. The S&P 500 traded 0.05% higher while the Nasdaq Composite traded flat at 6362.65. Betterthan-expected earnings for the quarter have been one of the key drivers of the recent rally, as recent data showed more than 73% of the S&P 500 companies had reported earnings that beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Source: UOB Kay Hian Research - 3 Aug 2017