A decent third quarter

The consensus estimate is still for the FBM KLCI to end the year with a bang with an average year-end target of 1,505 points.

AS we come to the tail-end of 2023, the last major market-driven event has just passed on without much enthusiasm as investors probably felt the recently concluded third-quarter (3Q23) reporting season was just a set of another disappointing quarter. Although the underlying strength of the results was much better than the preceding two quarters, most broking firms are now pushing for even stronger set of earnings growth for 2024, on the back of a lower base this year.

Similar to the 2Q23 and 1Q23 reporting season, some key sectors continued to be weighed down by industry-specific issues as seen in the disappointing performance among plantation and technology companies.