By Anas Abu Hassan
KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, is likely to trade range-bound with upward bias next week, driven by continuous bargain hunting, a dealer said.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) index is expected to trade in the range of 1,420-1,440.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse market undertone would likely improve, supported by a resurgence of foreign buying, the improving local economy as well as undemanding valuations of the FBM KLCI.
“From a technical point of view, we see the immediate support at 1,415 and resistance at 1,440,” he told Bernama.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes reckons that concerns over a recession in the United States could still spread into Asian markets.
“That would be felt through an export market recession, so the sentiment is likely to remain tepid with global growth on a downswing and geopolitical risks between China and the US simmering.
“Investors will keep a close eye on data in order to gauge contagion effects from the banking mini crisis and the US recession risk,” he added.
During the week just ended, Bursa Malaysia was traded mostly lower from Tuesday to Thursday before ending the week in the positive territory due to bargain hunting activities.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI gained 4.45 points to end at 1,427.04 from last week’s 1,422.59.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed up 58.81 points to 10,478.44, the FBMT 100 Index added 47.01 points to 10,161.04 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index perked up 106.23 points to 10,822.66.
The FBM 70 Index jumped 126.37 points to 13,638.75 and the FBM ACE Index advanced 99.88 points to 5,326.68.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 7.43 points to 15,701.27, the Energy Index rose 26.70 points to 863.51, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 3.67 points higher at 174.75 and the Plantation Index went down 9.61 points to 6,731.67.
Weekly turnover narrowed to 13.18 billion units worth RM7.71 billion versus 16.21 billion units worth RM8.36 billion (US$1.9 billion) (US$1 = RM4.40) last week.
The Main Market volume eased slightly to 9.47 billion shares valued at RM6.67 billion against 10.54 billion shares valued at RM6.92 billion a week ago.
Warrant turnover was lower at 960.12 million units worth RM155.86 million from 1.94 billion units worth RM332.66 million previously.
The ACE Market volume declined to 2.73 billion shares worth RM874.88 million from 3.71 billion shares worth RM1.10 billion.
— NNN-BERNAMA
