Bursa Malaysia likely to consolidate with upside bias

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is expected to stay in consolidation mode with a slight positive bias ahead of important local and US reports.

Apex Securities Bhd head of research Kenneth Leong said investors will be keeping a close tab on Malaysia’s industrial production data as well as the US Consumer Price Index report.

“Going forward, the extended recovery is expected to remain in place amid the calmer market conditions with the key index looking to test its recent high of 1,558 level.

“Any softer inflation data will reinforce the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) views on a potential rate cut in 2024,” he told Bernama.

Hence, he expects the key index to trend towards the immediate resistance of 1,558 while the nearterm support is pegged at 1,519.

Meanwhile, Mohd Sedek Jantan, head of wealth research and advisory and designated portfolio manager at UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors anticipates robust buying activity in the commodities sector, driven by the strength in the underlying commodities’ prices and the anticipation of potential interest rate cuts by the Fed this year.

“Moreover, we expect a spillover of buying interest into the domestic technology sector, while there is a noticeable uptick in momentum within the construction sector, which demonstrates promising growth in the fourth quarter of 2023 as well as for the entire year,” he added.

For the week just ended, the market was mostly higher in line with the upbeat performance on US Wall Street and regional markets as well as better risk appetite after Bank Negara Malaysia kept the overnight policy rate unchanged at three per cent.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI added 1.84 points to 1,539.86 from last week’s 1,538.02.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 13.67 points to 11,423.98, the FBMT 100 Index jumped13.28 points to 11,088.05, the FBM 70 Index rose 18.66 points to 15,403.38, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 47.57 points to 11,423.98, and the FBM ACE Index tumbled 71.31 points to 4,689.05.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 193.52 points to 17,368.74, the Energy Index shed 6.08 points to 903.57, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.62 points to 174.16, and the Plantation Index soared 92.47 points to 7,316.33.

Weekly turnover declined to 17.37 billion units worth RM13.36 billion from 22.55 billion units worth RM19.61 billion in the preceding week. — Bernama