Daily Market Reports Issued By Rakuten Trade Research : Page 7

Wall Street ended mixed as traders are concerned over Jerome Powell’s statement that the escalation of global trade war may derail any hopes for potential rate cuts hence pushing the US 10-year yield higher at 4.537%.
In Hong Kong, the HSI declined from its 4-month high on fears over the latest blanket 25% tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum imports by Trump commencing today.
Though the index remains above the 21,000 level, sentiment was also affected by the possible delay or no rate cut by the Fed.
On Monday, the FBM KLCI closed flat following a rather choppy session.
Though the benchmark index opened lower, intermittent bargain hunting activities managed to push the index higher before the break for Thaipusam.
Daily volume remained low as the focus is still on the blue chips for now, hence expect the index to trend within the 1,585-1,595 range today.

Wall Street declined as sentiment turned cagey whilst inflationary pressure remains evident.
The latest unemployment rate fell to 4% from 4.1% however, the average hourly earnings were higher than expected for January.
As such, the US 10-year yield spiked up to 4.495%.
Over in Hong Kong, the HSI maintained its impressive performance to end at above the 21,000 level spurred on by the tech sector which showed promising advancements of late.
On the home front, the FBM KLCI continues with its climb to land at 1,590 as we believe foreign funds may have returned.
Though the daily trading volume remains subdued we are hopeful that this will improve as foreign money trickles back.
For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,585-1,595 range.
Meanwhile, the CPO price seems to be making a comeback as it trended around the RM4,500/tonne.
For comparison, Jan 2025 CPO price averaged at RM4,670/tonne against Jan 2024 RM3,780/tonne.

Wall Street ended on a mixed note as traders weighed the latest batch of corporate earnings which was also a mixed bag.
Focus is now centred on company specifics while largely ignoring the tariffs scenario at the moment.
Meanwhile, the US 10-year yield inched higher at 4.436%.
In Hong Kong, despite the financial whirlwind amid the US/China trade tension, the HSI seems to be able to navigate the uncertainties nicely so far by maintaining above the 20,000 level and closing in on the 21,000 mark.
Meanwhile, investors are positive that more policy measures are expected from Beijing soon.
On the home front, the FBM KLCI conducted a late mini rally to fly past the 1,580 level possibly due to the return of foreign funds.
If this persists, we are confident that the index will re-test the 1,600 thresholds anytime soon.
As such, we anticipate the index to hover within the 1,580-1,590 range today.

Wall Street ended higher as traders are looking past the prevailing tariff uncertainty underscored by strong earnings from a selection of tech-based companies.
Meanwhile, the US 10-year yield eased further to 4.424%.
It is worthwhile noting that the US 10-year yield had declined from 4.8% a month ago to current level.
Over in Hong Kong, the HSI eased by almost 200 points as sentiment was weighed down by Trump’s tariff uncertainty amid the ongoing trade tension.
Meanwhile, Trump’s tactics help pushed gold prices to another record high to almost USD2,900/oz level.
Back home, the FBM KLCI maintained its climb to close above the 1,570 mark thus illustrating that foreign selling may be done for now.
We are still adamant that flight of funds from overseas will eventually land into Asia attributed to the reasonable valuations where the risk-reward ratio is better.
That said, we still need to see if prevailing stock accumulation is sustainable hence expect the index to hover within the 1,570-1,580 range today.

Wall Street ended higher as traders remain positive that China may obtain a temporary reprieve as did both Canada and Mexico while ignoring China’s latest tariff imposition on US goods.
Meanwhile, the latest data showing weaker job openings in December also heightened expectations of a rate adjustment by the Fed.
As such, the US 10-year yield eased to 4.513%.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong equities maintained its resilience as the HSI added almost 600 points to race towards the 21,000 mark on optimism of a China-US tariff reprieve coupled with the progressive AI developments in China.
Back home, the FBM KLCI finally showed a promising performance as buying on blue chips returned.
Though the retail space remains tight from the lack of liquidity, we need to see better improvements in the daily volume before participation from retailers normalizes.
For today, we anticipate the index to hover within the 1,560-1,570 range.

Market Reports