Asian stock markets finished higher on Monday ahead of the monetary policy meetings in Japan and the US. The local benchmark FBMKLCI (KLCI) inched up 0.81pts or 0.05% to end the day at 1,553.64. Most sectors rallied with the largest gains coming from utilities (+2.21%), energy (+1.35%) and property (+1.19%). Top laggards included telecommunications (-1.08%), REIT (-0.34%) and healthcare (-0.19%). Trading volume reduced to 4.24bn (down from 4.53bn on Friday) while trading value decreased to RM2.79bn (down from RM4.82bn previously). Market breadth stayed positive six days in a row with 546 gainers beating 480 decliners.

The benchmark formed its third white candle yesterday, shaping a pennant consolidation in the process. A breakout above the said pattern translates to a bullish continuation which may send the bulls up to retest the 20-month high at 1,559 and beyond. The longer-term resistance is placed at 1,570-1,583. Otherwise, the index may continue to trade in a sideways manner. The 1,525-1,531 level acts as the minor support, followed by the 1,508-1,521 band. Our portfolio stays in *risk-on mode* this week.

Gainers: 546
Losers: 480
Unchanged: 476

DOW: 38,790.43 (0.20%)
S&P500: 5,149.42 (0.63%)
NASDAQ: 16,103.45 (0.82%)
FTSE100: 7,722.55 (-0.06%)
DAX: 17,932.68 (-0.02%)
HSI: 16,737.12 (0.10%)
STI: 3,171.93 (-0.03%)
KLCI: 1,553.64 (0.05%)
​
USD: 4.7180 (0.23%)
AUD: 3.0990 (0.28%)
SGD: 3.5266 (0.19%)
EUR: 5.1424 (0.24%)
GBP: 6.0087 (0.10%)
JPY: 3.1639 (0.19%)
CNY: 0.6555 (0.20%)
HKD: 0.6034 (0.27%)
​
WTI: 82.72 (2.07%)
Brent: 86.89 (1.82%)
GOLD: 2,160.36 (0.21%)
3rd MONTH FCPO: 4,236.00 (0.38%)
Msia 10 yr bond yield: 3.8610 (-0.18%)
US 10 yr bond yield: 4.3242 (0.42%)
ICE LIBOR USD 3M: 5.5913 (0.00%)
Bitcoin Futures: 67,865 (-2.95%)
Source: Bloomberg

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