Bursa Malaysia on Thursday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 40 points or 2.4 percent.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,650-point plateau and it's likely to see little movement on Friday.

RHB Retail Research (RHB) in a note today (aug 30) said that the FKLI experienced strong profit-taking during Thursday's session, declining 23.50 pts to close lower at 1,658 pts.

The index started trading at 1,681.50 pts and, after touching the 1,691.50-pt session high, reversed to the 1,652-pt session low before the close – printing a long bearish candlestick.

The latest formation of the Bearish Marubozu indicates market sentiment has turned cautious while an interim top has formed at 1,691.50 pts.

For the coming sessions, the FKLI may move sideways below this immediate resistance for consolidation.

In the event selling pressure increases, the index may pull back to test the 1,630-pt support.

They observed that the 50-day SMA line is still trending upwards and lending support to the bullish technical setup.

Post consolidation, it is likely that the FKLI will stage a fresh attempt to cross above the interim top.

During this consolidation phase, RHB said they retained the positive trading bias.

Traders should hold on to the long positions initiated at 1,565.50 pts, ie the close of 6 Aug.

To minimise the trading risks, RHB said that the trailing-stop threshold is fixed at 1,600 pts.

The nearest support is marked at 1,630 pts and followed by the abovementioned 1,600 pts.

On the upside, the immediate resistance is pegged at 1,691.50 pts – 29 Aug's high – and followed by the 1,750-pt level.

Malacca Securities (MSSB) said that the FBM KLCI (-1.29%) ended lower as profit-taking activities were seen in banking heavyweights like CIMB (-38.0 sen) and MAYBANK (-18.0 sen), in line with the mixed regional markets' performance.

The REIT (+0.19%) sector was the best performer for the session.
The Day Ahead
MSSB said sentiment on the local front turned negative as profit-taking emerged after strong foreign fund buying in the banking sector, while small-cap stocks remained weak.

In the US, Wall Street had a mixed session, the Dow reached new highs, while the S&P and Nasdaq were weighed down by NVIDIA, which fell despite exceeding expectations.

US preliminary GDP came in at 3.0%, and unemployment claims slightly declined to 231k (previous reading: 233k).

Investors are now closely watching the core PCE data set to be released later tonight.

In the commodity markets, Brent oil rebounded after a two-day decline, driven by a suspension of exports from Libya, while gold prices remained above USD2,500, reflecting potential interest rate cuts by September.

CPO prices also bounced back, trading above RM3,900 with a positive outlook in the near term.

Sector Focus: With NVIDIA's decline impacting the overall technology sector, they anticipated further selling pressure on local technology stocks, especially given the stronger ringgit environment.

However, the stronger ringgit could benefit the Consumer sector, as evidenced by FFB and Spritzer's improved performance this quarter.

Additionally, during the corporate earnings season, several Property, Construction, and selected O&G stocks showed growth in their results.

Bloomberg FBMKLCI Technical Outlook
The FBM KLCI index ended lower towards the 1,653 level.

However, the technical readings on the key index were positive with the MACD histogram forming another positive bar and the RSI trended above 50.

The resistance is envisaged around 1,668-1,673 and the support is set at 1,633-1,653.