The FBM KLCI extended gains on Friday amid improving sentiment, with foreign funds extending its buying activities (5-day net foreign buying stood at RM51.2m). Also, the improvement on Wall Street overnight may spill over to the local front, but upside might be capped amid worries over the impact of fresh Covid-19 outbreaks in China. Commodities wise, the Brent crude oil price surged above USD83 per barrel mark, fuelled by tight US supplies. We believe the crude oil price could remain positive above the support of USD80 over the near term given the production cut from OPEC+ and Russia.

The FBM KLCI recovered from three-session losses amid improved sentiment on Wall Street. However, we believe the global sentiment may remain weak as selling pressure returned on Wall Street with the recession worries returned in the expectation of further monetary tightening from global central banks. Meanwhile, investors might be eyeing the quarantine cutting measure for overseas travellers from next month in China, but having cautious tone given the Covid-19 pandemic is still not resolved. Nevertheless, we expect the downside risk shall be cushioned by the return of foreign funds.

The FBM KLCI fell amid subdued trading as lingering worries over the recession concerns persisted. However, foreign investors have turned net buyer following the recent selldown. Given the strong rebound on Wall Street overnight, we believe the buying interest may spill over to the regional markets as well as the local bourse amid improving consumer confidence environment in the US.

The FBM KLCI was in line with the regional markets’ slump after Bank of Japan widened the allowable band for long-term yields to 50 basis points from 25 basis points previously. Nevertheless, we believe the key index is poised for a rebound amid reducing selldown from foreign investors, as well as the rebound move on Wall Street overnight. Also, window dressing activities may kick in towards year end.

The FBM KLCI closed lower in tandem with the regional bourses as lingering recession fears continued to weigh on sentiment due to the rising interest rates environment throughout the globe. While bearish sentiment persisted on the global front, we believe the passing of the motion of confidence for the 10th Prime Minister will strengthen the confidence of investors on the local bourse moving forward.

The FBM KLCI ended the trading week of on a positive note as buying momentum in the plantation stocks led the key index higher amid the FTSE rebalancing activities. Meanwhile, the selling pressure on the US stock markets could have overdone after falling from 34,700 to 32,600 zone and may be due for a technical rebound, despite mounting fears over recession risks. On the local front, the reconvening of the Parliament session, coupled with the vote of confidence will be a formality process to build investors’ confidence, hence the downside risk could be limited with the ongoing window dressing activities.

The FBM KLCI tumbled more than 1% as the telco and banking heavyweights succumbed to selling activities yesterday, while the foreign funds have turned net seller for the session. Meanwhile, the ECB maintained its interest rate hike decision to 2% and warns of more increases to fight inflation going forward. With the rising recession fear amid the global interest rate hike environment, we believe the regional and local bourses are likely to trend in the negative tone at least over the near term.

The FBM KLCI ended on a positive note along with most of the regional peers as investors cheered positively after the cooler US inflation data, while foreign funds turned net buyer after 9-day of selling activities. However, cautious sentiment may return following the negative performance on Wall Street overnight as the US Fed Chair’s remarks on further tightening of monetary policy in 2023, coupled with the expected terminal rate of 5.1% going forward to fight inflation. Investors may watch for UK and Europe’s interest rate decision moving forward.