KUALA LUMPUR (BERNAMA) – Bursa Malaysia is expected to trade range-bound this week as investor sentiment is likely to remain cautious due to market volatility with the key index moving in a tight range, an analyst said.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd Vice-President of Equity Research Thong Pak Leng said the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) is anticipated to hover within the 1,515-1,530 range, with immediate resistance at 1,530 and support at 1,500.
“With the market volatility heightened again, we believe regional and local markets will be similarly affected and investors’ sentiment to remain jittery although bargain hunting may prevail,” he told Bernama.
In a note, CGS-CIMB said investors will be focussing on the release of Malaysia’s fourth-quarter 2021 gross domestic product (GDP) data next week.
“Investors will be watching the potential impact of the floods, higher electricity tariffs, implementation of ceiling prices on certain goods, rising operating costs and cukai makmur (prosperity tax) on corporate earnings,” it said.
For the week just ended, Bursa Malaysia trended mostly mixed amid heightened market volatility in the region, while tracking the movement on Wall Street.
The market was traded for half a day last Monday on the eve of Chinese New Year, and was closed for two days last Tuesday and Wednesday for the Chinese New Year celebration.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI gained 2.74 points to end the week at 1,522.76 from 1,520.02 last week.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was up 58.53 points to 10,959.57, the FBMT100 Index added 35.77 points to 10,642.93, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 86.22 points to 11,666.81.
The FBM 70 expanded 118.04 points to 13,479.25, and the FBM ACE rose 126.71 points
to 6,185.74.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 6.05 points to 15,785.69, the Plantation Index eased 106.25 points to 6,543.86, and the Energy Index improved 48.75 points to 789.94.
The Industrial Products and Services Index gained 2.89 points to 203.3, the Technology Index inched up 1.11 points to 81.49, and the Healthcare Index firmed 39.28 points to 2,162.46.
Weekly turnover decreased to 5.70 billion units worth MYR4.36 billion from 12.23 billion units worth MYR9.18 billion in the previous week.
The Main Market volume slipped to 3.80 billion shares valued at MRY3.78 billion from 7.37 billion shares worth MRY7.82 billion.
Warrants volume contracted to 589.12 million units worth MYR200.11 million from 1.17 billion units worth MRY125.24 million previously.
The ACE Market volume decreased to 1.31 billion shares worth MYR521.37 million from 3.28 billion shares worth MYR1.18 billion in the previous week.
