Daily Market Report (25 April 2024)
- Wall Street closed mixed as sentiment was affected by rising US treasury yields ahead of key US GDP and inflation data to be released today and tomorrow.
- As such, though the DJI Average added 43 points, the Nasdaq declined by 11 points as the US 10-year yield rose to 4.648%.
- Meanwhile, Wall Street may also be further impacted by the less than inspiring earnings released after market from both Meta and IBM that saw falling US stock futures.
- Over in Hong Kong, the HSI broke the 17,000 threshold to close on a 5-month high on optimism that corporate earnings will pick up coupled with upgrades from both Goldman Sachs and UBS.
- Back home, the FBM KLCI continued with its impressive uptrend to close at a YTD high underpin by broad-based accumulation on blue chips.
- Notwithstanding the choppy performance in US stocks, we reckon foreign funds may be forced to re-look at SEA markets which are better value propositions.
- As we enter into the 1Q earnings season, corporate Malaysia is forecast to churn out a decent 16% earnings growth for 2024.
- Hence, we expect the index to hover between the 1,565-1,580 range today.
