KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is expected to see an uptrend this week as the market should remain constructively supported, says an analyst.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes noted that gains in Bursa Malaysia are likely to be measured rather than aggressive.
“A softer US dollar, stable global growth expectations and easing front-end US yields would provide a favourable external backdrop. In short, the setup remains one of steady carry and selective risk-taking, rather than broad-based risk-chasing,” he told Bernama.
The latest US non-farm payrolls ( P) released last Friday registered at 50,000 in December 2025, well below market expectations of at least 60,000 jobs.
The US P is a key indicator of consumer spending and overall economic activity in the United States.
A dealer said the latest data suggested a potential slowdown in the US economy.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the brokerage remains constructive on the benchmark index’s near-term prospects as upward momentum continues to build.
Overall, he said the FBM KLCI is still in a healthy uptrend across short to long-term timeframes, while market momentum remains supportive.
He said recent pullbacks appeared to be healthy consolidations, rather than signs of trend reversal.
“We expect the FBM KLCI to trade in the 1,670-1,700 range over the near term,” he said.
Last week, Bursa Malaysia traded rangebound before rebounding to end the week higher, with the FBM KLCI hitting a more than six-year high due to continued buying of blue-chip stocks and in line with the positive performance of most regional markets.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI garnered 16.78 points to 1,686.54 from the previous week’s 1,669.76.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index surged 208.07 points to 12,464.51, the FBMT 100 Index jumped 193.59 points to 12,252.25, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 181.41 points to 12,247.91, the FBM 70 Index garnered 596.77 points to 17,449.24, and the FBM ACE Index added 78.22 points to 5,001.49.
By sector, the Financial Services Index expanded by 452.96 points to 20,042.95, the Plantation Index climbed 219.49 points to 8,490.58, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.17 points to 173.33, while the Energy Index gained 14.45 points to 781.22.
Weekly turnover improved to 13.54 billion units worth RM13.5bil from 7.88 billion units valued at RM7.42bil a week earlier.
The Main Market volume went up to 7.41 billion units worth RM11.96bil, versus 4.58 billion units valued at RM6.75bil previously.
Warrants turnover rose to 3.98 billion units valued at RM520.4mil from 2.16 billion units valued at RM229.36mil in the previous week.
The ACE Market volume widened to 2.15 billion units valued at RM1.02bil from 1.13 billion units valued at RM444.17mil previously.
