Trading to stay range-bound

BURSA Malaysia is expected to trend higher with the key index moving towards the 1,750-1,770 level this week.

Putra Business School business development senior lecturer and manager Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff told Bernama that the market could reach that level after it retreated to the 1,750 level last week on heavy selling in heavyweight stocks.

“The heavy selling was due to over-reaction to the RM1 trillion debt level announcement by the government earlier in the week,” he said.

There would be an accommodative monetary policy and improvement in consumer sentiment, Ahmed Razman said.

“Investors will also be concerned over global market developments as there is a possibility of another round of trade wars between the US and various countries with regards to stiff tariffs imposed on steel and aluminium, as well as the update on the Federal Reserve interest rate policy,” he added.

For the week just ended, Bursa Malaysia closed mostly mixed on sustained selling momentum in selected heavyweights as well as situational counters.

Bursa Malaysia started off the first day of trading easier, in line with regional trends, and closed lower on Wednesday on foreign selling, a day after the Wesak Day holiday.

Meanwhile, on Thursday and Friday, the bourse rebounded to positive territory after Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng painted a clearer picture on measures to improve the economy through government policies, among them, creating a business friendly environment for investors from all backgrounds and promote investment influx from India.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was 41.02 WEEKLY FBM KLCI points lower at 1,756.38 from 1,797.40.

The FBM Emas Index fell 304.88 points to 12,235.90, the FBMT100 Index eased 294.72 points to 12,053.96, the FBM 70 slid 398.46 points to 14,442.16, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 388.09 points to 12,220.21.

The FBM Ace retreated 140.06 points to 5,049.55.

On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index decreased 262.53 points to 17,617.03, the Industrial Index went down 48.59 points to 3,164.82 and the Plantation Index fell 143.85 points to 7,700.26.

Weekly turnover widened to 13.32 billion units worth RM18.79bil from 12.90 billion units worth RM15.95bil.

Main Market volume increased to 9.08 billion shares worth RM18.13bil from 8.17 billion shares worth RM15.19bil.

Warrants turnover declined to 2.85 billion units valued at RM464.73mil versus 3.07 billion units valued at RM519.62mil.

The Ace Market volume reduced to 1.38 billion shares worth RM200.66mil from 1.55 billion shares worth RM233.17mil. – Bernama

GOLD FUTURES

KUALA LUMPUR

Gold futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to consolidate between the range of RM165 and RM170 a gramme this week, said Phillip Futures Sdn Bhd dealer Tee Guy Eon.

“The local futures will be tracking the movement of gold on the US Commodity Exchange, which is expected to trade at between RM1,295 and RM1,307 per ounce, as market watchers continue to monitor the political tensions in Italy,” he told Bernama. KUALA LUMPUR

The three-month Kuala Lumpur Interbank Offered Rate (Klibor) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is likely to hover at the current levels this week.

For the week just-ended, the market was untraded for the whole week, while open interest and volume remained nil through-

BONUS / RIGHTS ISSUES

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, May 2018 was at RM167.05 a gramme, June 2018 declined 10 ticks to RM167.15 a gramme, July 2018 and August 2018 both erased 11 ticks each to RM167.5 and RM167.6 a gramme, respectively, while new spot month September 2018 stood at RM167.65 a gramme.

Weekly turnover inched up to 10 lots worth RM167,170 from nine lots worth RM150,270 from the previous week, while open interest was lower at 36 contracts from 49 contracts registered the previous week. – Bernama

KLIBOR FUTURES

out the week.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, settlement prices for June 2018, July 2018, August 2018 and September 2018 all remained pegged at 96.27.

The underlying three-month Klibor was unchanged from the previous week’s 3.69%. – Bernama