The FBM KLCI remained negative as investors continued to trade cautiously under the interest rate upcycle as well as intensifying inflationary pressure environment. We expect a range-bound trading on the local bourse prior to a series of economic data releases for the week including Malaysia’s unemployment rate, European Central Bank interest rate decision, as well as inflation data from China and US. Nevertheless, the overnight jump on Wall Street may shed a light on the local bourse, especially in the technology sector.

The FBM KLCI slid for the third straight session as investors took further profits in the banking heavyweights, while picking up shares in technology and energy sectors. We believe the local bourse is poised for a mild turnaround supported by bargain hunting activities especially in commodity and technology stocks given the flat overnight Wall Street movements. Nevertheless, downside risks include global inflation and the prolong Russia-Ukraine conflicts.

The FBM KLCI declined marginally into the negative territory as cautious sentiment persisted on the local bourse. Nevertheless, we expect to see bargain hunting activities across the sectors given the strong rebound on Wall Street overnight. We believe crude oil price to remain elevated for the near term on the back of reduced Russian output and larger-than-expected drawdown in the US inventories, thus inflationary pressure may not abate anytime soon.

On the first day of June, the FBM KLCI surrendered big gains from the previous session as global inflationary pressure remains a concern which may derail the economic recovery. Investors may trade cautiously following the overnight decline on Wall Street. Nevertheless, traders are likely to lookout on selected technology stocks with solid balance sheet and growing quarterly results (at least positive QoQ growth).

The FBM KLCI was traded higher due to the MSCI semi-annual review and we noticed trading value surged above RM6.12bn for the session with positive foreign inflows. Nevertheless, we believe the global sentiment may remain tepid as (i) Ukraine-Russia tension persists and (ii) elevated crude oil price may continue to put soaring inflation in focus; these factors may limit the upside potential on the recent relief rebound.

The FBM KLCI ended slightly lower on profit taking activities within selected consumer and plantation heavyweights. We expect investors to reassess the corporate earnings and reposition on solid companies as we are heading into the final day of reporting season. Meanwhile, we expect the easing of restrictions in China will help the market sentiment overall. Hence, buying support should emerge within the technology and recovery themed sectors. Nevertheless, upside on the broader market may be kept as traders be focusing on the inflationary pressure that may dampen the corporates’ margins.

The FBM KLCI rose in tandem with the regional peers on the back of continuous bargain hunting activities. As Wall Street saw a recovery overnight, we expect to see improving trading activities on the local front, especially the technology sector with Nasdaq trading above 12,000. Nevertheless, we expect traders to remain cautious going into final 2 days of the reporting season. On a sidenote, the FBM KLCI semi-annual review will be announced on 2nd June 2022.

The FBM KLCI closed higher amid buying interest within telco and banking heavyweights. Given the strong rebound and follow through interest on Wall Street, we expect the spillover of buying support may emerge on the technology stocks on the local front and traders may focus on the recent bashed down technology leaders as some of their earnings have stabilised in the recent reporting season. However, we expect the upside to be limited given the unresolved Ukraine and Russia tension.