Bursa Malaysia to trend higher above 1,800 level

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is likely to trend higher above the 1,800 level, supported by various positive domestic and external factors, hence, fuelling investor optimism, said a dealer.

Hermana Capital Bhd chief executive officer and chief investment officer Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said most investors were pleased with the appointment of Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan as Khazanah Nasional Bhd new managing director.

“Besides, the higher producer price index for local production in June compared with May, and the reintroduction of the Sales Tax Bill and the Services Tax Bill 2018 on September 1 are said to return more money back to the people, boosting investor confidence as well,” he told Bernama.

On Friday, the sovereign wealth fund in a statement said Shahril, who is currently Employees Provident Fund chief executive officer, is scheduled to report for duty on Aug 20.

Nazri Khan also expects the appointment to augur well for Khazanah’s linked- companies, which include Tenaga, TM, CIMB, IHH and Axiata.

On the external front, Nazri Khan said the US and China trade tension is gradually subsiding as both parties were trying to restart talks, aimed at avoiding a full-blown trade war between the two largest economies.

Echoing the same opinion, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of Research Kenny Yee said that the benchmark FBM KLCI would trade above the 1,800 key levels in a range-bound trend and in line with analysts’ expectations of the second quarter 2018 domestic corporate earnings.

“We also believe that the appointment of Shahril as the new MD of Khazanah will provide more clarity on the direction for the government linked-companies in the stock market moving forward,” Yee added.

For the week just-ended, Bursa Malaysia ended mostly higher taking the lead from regional peers and the Wall Street which saw Apple’s stock market value gained almost three per cent to US$1 trillion amid renewed concerns over the US-China trade war during the week.

Locally, it was also positive on the assurance given that Khazanah would be run by professionals, thus easing pressure on the local bourse.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was 10.95 points firmer at 1,780.09 from 1,769.14.

The FBM Emas Index advanced 42.20 points to 12,600.48 and the FBMT100 Index bagged 50.59 points to 12,387.65.

The FBM 70, however, eased 32.44 points to 15,462.37 and the FBM Ace fell 13.10 points to 5,446.04, but the FBM Emas Shariah Index was up 53.13 points to 12,744.46.

On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index slipped 12.79 points to 17,440.46 and the Industrial Index was 8.79 points weaker at 3,276.12 but the Plantation Index improved 71.03 points to 7,623.39.

Weekly turnover narrowed to 11.17 billion units valued at RM10.70 billion from 15.59 billion units worth RM12.33 billion.

Main market volume reduced to 6.65 billion shares worth RM9.68 billion from 10.36 billion shares valued at RM10.77 billion.

Warrants turnover decreased to 2.20 billion units valued at RM584.34 million from 2.90 billion units worth RM871.01 million.

The ACE market volume rose to 2.31 billion shares valued at RM428.57 million from 2.33 billion shares valued at RM692.01 million. — Bernama