KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is expected to trade with selective bargain-hunting, even in the absence of oversold technical conditions, following three consecutive sessions of mild decline, says an economist.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd’s director of investment strategy and country economist, Mohd Sedek Jantan, said trading activity is likely to remain measured as markets monitor political developments in the region, particularly the elections in Japan and Thailand.
“Japan’s election outcome carries greater regional relevance, as it will shape fiscal direction and security policy in Asia’s second-largest economy at a time of sluggish growth and elevated public debt, with potential implications for regional risk premia and currency markets.
“In contrast, Thailand’s election is expected to have limited spillover effects on the broader region and minimal direct impact on Malaysia,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, he said the global sentiment this week will continue to be guided by the US corporate earnings season, although he expects volatility to moderate from last week’s elevated levels.
“The earnings focus shifts towards consumer and healthcare names, which should offer a more stable read on underlying demand conditions compared with the recent tech-driven repricing,” he said.
Mohd Sedek said on the macro front, it will be a data-intensive week for Malaysia, beginning with the release of the industrial production and manufacturing statistics today, followed by wholesale and retail trade data tomorrow, labour market indicators on Wednesday, and the gross domestic product data for the fourth quarter of 2025 on Friday.
“Globally, US retail sales data is due tomorrow, while China is scheduled to release its January consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index figures on Wednesday.
“We expect China’s CPI inflation to moderate to 0.5% year-on-year, slightly below December’s 0.8%, reinforcing the narrative of subdued domestic demand,” he added.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI fell by 8.05 points to 1,732.83 from 1,740.88 a week earlier.
The FBM Top 100 Index slipped 91.03 points to 12,470.99 points.
