Market: Sentiments To Remain Cautious

Selective buying support helped maintain the FBM KLCI to stay marginally above the 1,500 level and though sentiments are to remain cautious, support will come from the net inflow of foreign funds.

“Though sentiment is expected to remain cautious along with heightened volatility, we reckon the local bourse to be well supported by the continuing net inflow of foreign funds hence expect the index to trend within the 1,490-1,510 range today.

“Meanwhile, we anticipate buying interest may spillover to the Energy sector as the Brent crude surged past the US$105/barrel on fresh concerns over supply side,” says Rakuten Trade.

Market Performance

FBM KLCI closed marginally higher despite negative performance of regional markets.

The benchmark index gained 0.09% or 1.28 points to end at 1,501.57 with gainers led by PETDAG, HLFG and PPB.

Market breadth was negative with 616 losers against 278 gainers. Total volume stood at 1.94bn shares valued at RM1.59bn.

Wall Street

Wall Street closed lower as selling continued amid concerns over hike in interest rates and tightening US monetary policy. The DJI Average lost 184 points while the Nasdaq dropped by 124 points as the US 10-year yield ended higher at 3.11%.

Wall Street continued to trend lower due to worries over the Federal Reserves’ plan to keep raising interest rates in its fight against inflation even at the cost of an economic slowdown.

The DJIA lost 0.57% to end at 32,098.99. S&P500 and Nasdaq shrunk 0.67% and 1.02% to close at 4,030.61 and 12,017.67 respectively.

Key regional markets closed broadly lower yesterday. Nikkei 225 slumped 2.66% to end at 27,878.96. HSI and STI lost 0.73% and 0.84% to end at 20,023.22 and 3,222.26 respectively. Meanwhile SHCOMP gained 0.14% to close at 3,240.73.