Daily Market Report (21 March 2024)
- Wall Street rallied as all 3 major indices closed at record highs after traders acknowledged the Federal Reserve’s maintained interest rates with 3 adjustments until year end.
- As a result, the DJI Average gained 401 points while the Nasdaq jumped by 203 points with the US 10-year yield easing to 4.277%.
- In Hong Kong, the HSI ended flat as sentiment remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting.
- Meanwhile, China left lending rates unchanged in line with market expectations but strong earnings from Tencent injected some positivity.
- Back home, the FBM KLCI slumped to below the 1,540 level or down by 20 points over the last 2 days amid continuous selling from foreign funds.
- While we are perplexed of the recent sell-down, we believe the index will see a rebound today after a clearer picture from the Fed overnight.
- Hence, we expect the index to hover within the 1,540-1,550 range today, underpin by interests on the Banks, Construction and Utilities sectors.
