KUALA LUMPUR: Apex Securities Research is advising investors to stay defensive during this volatile period as rising US Treasury yields continue to take the shine off equities investment.
The research firm said in a note that investors' risk appetite in the equity markets will continue to dwindle with expectations that interest rates will remain higher for longer.
"We reckon that the downward bias tone may linger amid the lack of fresh leads, while any recovery will be tempered by quick selling pressure," it said.
Malacca Securities Research, meanwhile, said it expects traders to be focused on an eventful earnings week on Wall Street where mega cap technology corporations such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and Amazon will be announcing their results.
"Should these results beat estimates, buying support may emerge and put a pause to the recent selling tone," it said.
Also on the technology sector, it said local tech counters could rebound following the Nasdaq's bounce overnight after four straight weeks of losses.
At the opening bell, the benchmark FBM KLCI was up 0.16 points to 1,438.28, suggesting investors are staying to the sidelines.
The Bursa Malaysia Technology Index was up 0.1% to 61.40.
Stocks seeing early price increases included Greatech climbing eight sen to RM4.36, IGB rising four sen to RM2.18 and Bonia
jumping four sen to RM1.78.
Most active counters included Metronic down 0.5 sne ot 1.5 sne, Revenue rising two sen to 23 sen and Alrich falling 0.5 sen to four sen.
