KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is expected to be muted in the upcoming holiday-shortened trading week as investor sentiment is likely to remain soft for the time being due to external factors, although bargain hunting may prevail given the attractive valuations.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said, on this backdrop, the benchmark FBM KLCI is likely to trend sideways, with a slight bias towards positive within the 1,485 to 1,500-level for this week.
“From a technical perspective, we spot the immediate resistance at 1,500 and support at 1,470,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB) said that the FBM KLCI near-term outlook remains positive amid China’s reopening and near-peak interest rate upcycle, however, the benchmark index is expected to move range-bound, with resistance at 1,500, 1,512 and 1,528, and support at 1,451, 1,468, and 1,479 ahead of the long weekend holidays.
Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries will be closed today for the Thaipusam replacement holiday and will resume trading tomorrow.
“(Expect) the absence of fresh local catalysts and a technical support trendline breakdown, with a key focus on February results season and the re-tabling of Budget 2023,” it said in a research note.
On a week-to-week basis, the key index eased 7.08 points to 1,490.47 on Friday against 1,497.55 a week earlier.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Syariah Index gained 34.72 points to 11,212.27, the FBM ACE Index increased 112.0 points to 5,843.23 and the FBM 70 Index advanced 125.15 points to 13,884.99. - Bernama
