The FBMKLCI continued to edge higher yesterday with a gain of 10.50pt to close at 1,782.98. Meanwhile, Asian shares bounced back on Thursday after US President Donald Trump and congressional leaders unexpectedly agreed to raise the government debt limit until December, eliminating the near-term risk of a government shutdown. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.3% to 160.61.The FBMKLCI’s top gainers were British American Tobacco (+3.4%), Astro Malaysia Holdings (+2.7%) and CIMB Group Holdings (+2.4%), while the top losers were Petronas Gas (-0.98%), Petronas Dagangan (-0.49%) and Sime Darby (-0.44%). In the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 533 to 317 with 387 counters unchanged. Turnover was 2.63b shares valued at RM2.41 b. The FBMKLCI closed marginally higher at 1,782.98 after paring down earlier losses and forming a bullish Marubozu bar yesterday. However a positive follow-through needs to be established to validate the signal as the current movement still points to further consolidation amid a lack of domestic catalysts to shift the index higher in the near term. We maintain the current neutral outlook over the short term while maintaining our longterm outlook as bullish because the FBMKLCI is still trading above the long-term uptrend line. A positive closing above 1,780 yesterday should ensure upward continuation towards the psychological level of 1,800 in the near term. Support and resistance levels are as follows:

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

Wall Street ended little changed on Thursday after a moderate late-day rally as media stocks, which slumped on negative business updates from Walt Disney and Comcast, were offset by gains in healthcare shares. At the close, the DJIA fell 0.1%, the S&P 500 index lost 0.02% and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.1%. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,606 to 1,479, and 153 ended unchanged. On the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1,330 fell and 1,169 advanced, while 149 ended unchanged.

Source: UOB Kay Hian Research - 8 Sept 2017