Bursa Malaysia to trade cautious mode next week

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 — Bursa Malaysia is predicted to still trade a alert mode next week, driven by mixed sentiments by and global economic outlook.

Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the local market was expected to ascertain thin trading holiday-shortened week, which can see the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) trading within a decent range.

The current resistance level is spotted at 1,600 points while the immediate price stands at 1,560 points, he said.

“Additionally, the general sentiment would be somewhat dampened following fresh geopolitical tensions after China warned Taiwan that an effort to hunt independence from China could mean war,” he told Bernama.

On the opposite hand, he said the increase in today’s Covid-19 cases to record high could still attract interest in rubber glove counters which structure 10-13 per cent in terms of FBM KLCI’s market capitalization .

“But, any surprise move to increase the movement control order (MCO) further could see some knee-jerk reaction within the market,” he added.

Meanwhile, Adam said restrictions over retail trading of stocks like GameStop and talks surrounding the further development of the US fiscal stimulus within the Senate also affected the mood in Asia.

“As such, glove counters were in high demand on Friday, pushing share prices sharply higher because of the calls made by some unknown investors over social media to require on the short sellers,” he added.

Despite the hefty gains within the major rubber glove counters, he said other stocks were mostly within the red amid fears that retail investors might want to enter other stocks which are a part of the composite index.

In forex market, he said that the ringgit was 0.1 per cent higher against the US dollar amid Moody’s reiteration of a stable rating outlook for Malaysia.

“Aside from that, the US dollar is facing pressure amid nervousness that crept into the greenback following trading restrictions on GameStop shares.

“Looking ahead, the ringgit could appreciate further against the greenback to succeed in 4.03 per US dollar next week if there are positive developments regarding the vaccine roll-out,” he said.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the benchmark FBM KLCI slipped 30.34 points to 1,566.44 from last week’s 1,596.74.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index decreased 199.81 points to 11,363.81, the FBMT 100 Index slid 189.83 points to 11,104.93, the FBM 70 declined 154.34 points to 14,747.34, the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 861.09 points to 12,187.86 and therefore the FBM ACE Index rose 274.93 points to 11,032.94.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was down 421.54 points to 14,464.06 and therefore the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 8.16 points to 169.19, while the Plantation Index dropped 125.27 points to 7,097.89.

The Energy Index decreased 40.93 points to 793.14, the Healthcare Index was 48.06 points higher at 3,597.85 and therefore the Technology Index increased 1.32 points to 81.96.

For the holiday-shortened week, weekly turnover decreased to 25.57 billion units worth RM21.23 billion from 33.18 billion units worth RM22.61 billion within the previous week.

Main Market volume eased to fifteen .34 billion shares valued at RM17.64 billion from 18.94 billion shares valued at RM17.51 billion previously.

Warrants turnover rose to 2.04 billion units worth RM320.29 million from 1.98 billion units worth RM315.38 million within the previous week.

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