PETALING JAYA: Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index, the FBM KLCI, is expected to move higher this week, riding on better market sentiment coupled with optimism over a positive corporate earnings season.
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Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the valuations of Malaysian equities were still cheaper compared with regional peers, hence, they offered better upside potential for foreign investors.
However, investors should stay alert on the increasing market volatility and uncertainty, he said, citing external developments such as the US debt ceiling revision would be under investors’ radar.
“Additionally, we believe some investors will shift their attention to corporate earnings (announcements) as the results season heats up from this week onwards.
“As such, we expect the FBM KLCI to trade within a range of between 1,420 and 1,435 for this week. On a technical point of view, we see immediate resistance at 1,440 and support at 1,415,” he told Bernama.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI increased 5.62 points to end the week at 1,428.54 from last week’s 1,422.92.
The local bourse staged a volatile trading pattern during the week, mainly influenced by external factors including worries over the US debt ceiling situation and the release of China economic data – retail sales and industrial production.
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Sector-wise, the Plantation Index rose 69.89 points to 7,026.55, the Energy Index put on 10.14 points to 839.53, while the Financial Services Index climbed 92.95 points to 15,606.23.
However, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 2.13 points to 164.99.
Weekly turnover decreased to 13.33 billion units valued at RM8.18bil versus 15.43 billion units valued at RM8.75bil the week before.
The Main Market volume declined to 8.39 billion shares worth RM7.05bil compared with 9.67 billion shares worth RM7.25bil in the previous week.
The ACE Market volume shrank to 3.08 billion shares worth RM830.39mil from 4.11 billion shares worth RM1.24bil the week before.
– The Star