Bursa Malaysia to trade with downside bias this week on lack of fresh catalysts

KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 (Bernama): The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) is expected to consolidate and trade with a downside bias this week in the absence of fresh catalysts.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong expects the downside risk to be cushioned at the immediate support at 1,413, while the immediate resistance is at 1,437 followed by 1,450.

Looking ahead, he said investors may be keeping a close tab on the upcoming flurry of corporate earnings announcements across Bursa Malaysia.

"We reckon that tourism-related stocks may benefit from the reopening of China borders, while the oil and gas-related industry may capitalise on the higher capital expenditure allocation by Petronas.

"On the flip side, we are cautious over the technology sector amid the softer global semiconductor sales,” he told Bernama.

Additionally, Leong said investors may also keep a close eye on several key economic releases such as China's Industrial Production and Retail Sales as well as the United States Retail Sales, Industrial Production and Manufacturing Production that are all scheduled to be released next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said, on the domestic front, despite the cautious market undertone in the region, he expected bargain hunting to prevail given the cheap valuations of local stocks, persistent support from local institutions and return of foreign funds.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI declined 8.12 points to end at 1,422.92 from last week’s 1,431.04.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 42.60 points to 10,415.65, the FBMT 100 Index declined 42.44 points to 10,111.39 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 17.19 points to 10,775.92.

The FBM 70 Index added 6.63 points to 13,488.16 while the FBM ACE Index dipped 228.52 points to 4,984.48.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index tumbled 195.45 points to 15,513.28, but the Energy Index rose 1.15 points to 829.39, the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 2.37 points to 167.12, while the Plantation Index ticked up 122.87 points to 6,956.66.

Weekly turnover surged to 15.43 billion units valued at RM8.75 billion versus 8.95 billion units valued at RM4.52 billion last week.

The Main Market volume swelled to 9.67 billion shares worth RM7.25 billion compared to 6.21 billion shares worth RM3.76 billion in the previous week.

Warrants turnover soared to 1.64 billion units valued at RM264.73 million from 928.55 million units valued at RM182.56 million a week ago.

The ACE Market volume expanded to 4.11 billion shares worth RM1.24 billion from 1.80 billion shares worth RM571.50 million last week. - Bernama