Bursa Malaysia likely to trade range-bound with upside bias this week

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is expected to trade range-bound with an upside bias hovering within the range of 1,575 to 1,600 points this week, says an analyst.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI continued its rally last week, supported by buying interest in heavyweights.

“While we anticipate a brief pause for the bulls following the recent strong rally, the index has maintained its position above all exponential moving averages (EMAs).

“Coupled with the upward trajectory of the 20-day EMA, this suggests that the benchmark index is still on consolidation mode with a positive bias,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors’ designated portfolio manager and head of wealth research and advisory, Mohd Sedek Jantan, said the recent uptick in the performance of Apple and Qualcomm on Wall Street, coupled with Microsoft’s significant investments in Malaysia, is poised to strengthen the technology sector in the local bourse.

In light of this momentum, he said the FBM KLCI is anticipated to fluctuate between 1,570 and 1,620 in the upcoming week.

“Encouragingly, local institutional buying has provided solid support, with noticeable backing observed around the 1,560-point mark. It is worth noting that the psychological barrier at 1,500 remains a pivotal support level.

“On the upside, resistance is anticipated around the 1,600 mark, with additional challenges expected at the 1,620 threshold,” he added.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI increased 14.43 points to 1,589.59 from last week’s 1,575.16.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index jumped 143.32 points to 11,970.11, the FBM 70 Index went up 320.24 points to 16,737.02, the FBMT 100 Index perked up by 135.67 points to 11,597.12, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 201.35 points to 12,193.30, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 72.54 points to 5,134.55.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index went up 16.52 points to 7,419.87, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 3.51 points to 190.84, the Financial Services Index eased 13.4 points to 17,290.41 and the Energy Index shed 10.57 points to 966.85.

For the holiday-shortened week, turnover declined to 16.10 billion units worth RM13.43bil compared with 19.55 billion units worth RM14.43bil in the preceding week.

The Main Market volume narrowed to 9.79 billion shares valued at RM12.02bil from 11.43 billion shares valued at RM12.71bil a week ago.

The ACE Market volume eased to 2.14 billion shares valued at RM809.18mil against 2.93 billion shares valued at RM1.02bil previously.