Daily Market Report (14 February 2024)
- Wall Street ended broadly lower as January inflation figures came in higher than expected putting rate cuts into more uncertainty.
- As a result, the DJI Average declined by 525 points while the Nasdaq lost 287 points as the US 10-year yield edged higher at 4.326%.
- The Hong Kong market will resume trading today but recent move by MSCI to cut 66 Chinese stocks from its global benchmarks may add more negativity into Hong Kong equities.
- Back home, the FBM KLCI surged past the 1,520 mark with ease as it closed above the 1,530 level attributed to the continuous buying of blue chips by foreign funds.
- Though daily volume remains low, we believe if such accumulation on the blue chips is sustained, the improving liquidity will cascade into the smaller caps hence enticing retailers back into action.
- For today, we anticipate the index to possibly hover within the 1,525-1,535 range as sentiment may have turned cautious, no thanks to Wall Street’s performance overnight.
