KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11): The FBM KLCI is expected to trend sideways today immediate support pegged at 1,758.

Stocks around the world rose on Tuesday as Wall Street eked out record highs ahead of earnings season, while U.S. Treasury prices pared gains after Catalonia's leader allowed for talks with Madrid even as he proclaimed independence from Spain, according to Reuters.

Oil futures rose on signs of supply rebalancing, helping shares in energy companies, it said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69.61 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 22,830.68, the S&P 500 gained 5.91 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,550.64 and the Nasdaq Composite added 7.52 points, or 0.11 percent, to 6,587.25, said Reuters.

AllianceDBS Research in its evening edition Tuesday said the FBM KLCI had on Oct 10 traded lower to 1,758.54 as market participants chose to play on the selling side in anticipation of a lower market.

It said in the absence of stronger buying interest, the benchmark index was in the red throughout the trading sessions before settling near the day’s high at 1,761.13 (down 2.90 points or 0.16%).

“In the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers with 418 stocks ending lower and 400 stocks finishing higher. That gave a market breadth of 0.95 indicating the bears were in better control with the bulls closely matched,” it said.

AllianceDBS Research said the market saw selling activity on Oct 10 with the benchmark index falling to a low of 1,758.54.

“Market participants apparently were not keen to continue playing on the buying side when the market failed to pull far up on Oct 9 despite the positive settlement on Oct 6.

“Given a choice to trade the market, market participants had decided to profit take a portion of their winning trades.

“So, the lower low on Oct 10 was not something unusual because market had a tendency to fall following a rise in the absence of positive news,” it said.

The research house said following the down close, there should be selling attempt again with immediate support pegged at 1,758. 

“The analysis of overall market action on Oct 10 revealed that buying power was stronger than selling pressure.

“As such, the FBM KLCI would likely trade above the 1,762.64 level on Oct 11,” said AllianceDBS Research.

Based on corporate announcements and news flow yesterday, stocks in focus today may include: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Muhibbah Engineering (M) Bhd, AWC Bhd, Ireka Corp Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Mega First Corp Bhd, PRG Holdings Bhd and TH Heavy Engineering Bhd.