Foreign funds to provide fillip to Bursa Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: The return of foreign funds to the region is expected to provide a fillip to Bursa Malaysia as buying momentum on the domestic equities will persist on renewed optimism.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the brokerage firm remained hopeful that the current momentum would lift the trading volume and draw in more investors into the market, especially retail investors.
“As such, we anticipate the index to hover within the 1,520 to 1,540 range, with immediate support at 1,520, followed by 1,500. A notable subsequent resistance level stands at 1,540, and a breakthrough above this level could signal further upward momentum,” he told Bernama.
The market was closed on Monday (February 12) for the Chinese New Year celebration.
During the just-ended shortened trading week, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) announced that the country recorded a gross domestic product growth (GDP) of 3.7 per cent in 2023, with the fourth quarter of the year notching up a 3.0 per cent expansion.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also Finance Minister, said the MADANI Government is confident of achieving stronger growth of between four per cent and five per cent in 2024 on the back of strong fundamentals and reforms mapped out in the MADANI Economy and Budget 2024.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) jumped 21.27 points to 1,533.55 from 1,512.28 in the previous week.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index soared 160.24 points to 11,405.26, the FBMT 100 Index garnered 149.09 points to 11,053.60, the FBM 70 Index surged 190.48 points to 15,400.81, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 172.31 points to 11,458.49, and the FBM ACE Index shot up 83.08 points to 4,905.29.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 335.58 points to 17,216.55, the Energy Index bagged 7.12 points to 895.08, the Plantation Index gained 62.07 points to 7,254.23, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 3.42 points to 176.11.
Weekly turnover fell to 12.23 billion units worth RM8.61 billion from 14.46 billion units worth RM9.47 billion in the preceding week.
The Main Market volume slipped to 7.83 billion shares worth RM7.73 billion from 8.36 billion shares worth RM8.35 billion a week ago.
Warrants turnover slid to 2.49 billion units valued at RM359.16 million versus 3.10 billion units valued at RM479.43 million last week.
The ACE Market volume dwindled to 1.89 billion shares worth RM509.6 million from 2.92 billion shares worth RM629.21 million previously.