Trading to remain cautious

BURSA Malaysia’s trading this week is forecast to slow down in the face of uncertainty in the emerging markets, escalating trade tensions and the extended weekend in the country, said dealers.

Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said with investors remaining mindful of the external events, the FBMKLCI would linger around its resistance and support level of 1,805 and 1,776 respectively this week.

“In addition, the US non-farm payroll data is expected to show that the labour market in the US remains solid, which necessitates a rate rise in the US, while the Federal Open Market Committee will meet on Sept 26.

“The Fed is expected to deliver a 25 basis points hike in the Fed Fund Rate which currently stands at two per cent. This will add further pressure to emerging countries’ assets and currencies,” he told Bernama.

For the week just ended, Bursa Malaysia moved between 1,795.29 and 1,802.12, digesting the impact of the trade war on Malaysia, before snapping its three-day losing streak on Thursday and extending its momentum to Friday.

In the first three days, the local market was on a downtrend and attempted to break the negative trend but failed to do so, although however it broke the trend on Thursday.

M & A Securities Sdn Bhd chief dealing officer R Sundararajah said the market is still on the sidelines for the week just ended, taking into account the long weekend this week.

“We can see a lot of investors are not taking a position, coupled with the composite index's performance, which started last Monday's trading at 1,819 and has dropped about 20 points since then.

“We also saw the net sell by foreigners which stood at RM602mil,” he said, adding that he anticipated the index to remain below the 1,800 level.

Sundararajah also said that investors would monitor the performance of Wall Street as well as regional markets on the first two days this week despite public holidays in Malaysia.

“We are following the same direction as Dow Jones and other Asian major economies and until then investors are unlikely to have an open position,” he said. KUALA LUMPUR

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) futures contract is expected to be on a downtrend this week as the market is likely to digest the impact of the US trade deficit wars on Malaysia, a dealer said.

He said that despite negative market sentiment, the overall performance of futures markets during the week just ended was weaker, with investors remaining on the sidelines due to the long weekend holiday the previous week and this week.

The market was closed on Aug 31 (previous Friday) for the Merdeka Day holiday and is closed on Sept 10 and Sept 11 (Monday and Tuesday) for the Yang Di-Pertuan KUALA LUMPUR

The gold futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to exhibit rangebound demand this week on cautious trading.

Phillip Futures Sdn Bhd derivative dealer Kiang Jia Ling said Bursa Malaysia gold is also expected to track the performance of the US Commodity Exchange gold prices.

“The US employment report due later in the day will give some momentum to the market,” he told Bernama.

Kiang said traders would also continue to look for clues from US economic data on the direction of the US interest rates.

The strengthening of the greenback on expectations of the US interest rate increases would pressure gold prices downward, he KUALA LUMPUR

The three-month Kuala Lumpur Interbank Offered Rate (Klibor) futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are likely to remain quiet this week on lack on trading interest.

For the week just ended, the market was untraded.

Settlement prices for September 2018, WEEKLY FBM KLCI

Bursa Malaysia is closed today and tomorrow. Today is a public holiday in lieu of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong’s birthday on Sunday and tomorrow is also a holiday for Awal Muharram, the Islamic New Year.

Compared to the previous Thursday, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI settled 20.49 points weaker at 1,799.17 on Friday.

The market was closed the previous Friday for National Day.

The FBM Emas Index fell 156.99 points to 12,562.43 and the FBMT100 Index slipped 144.87 points to 12,381.56.

The FBM 70 gave up 189.23 points for 14,936.82, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 123.54 points to 12,683.53, while the FBM Ace dipped 136.99 points to 5,146.72.

On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index declined 168.86 points to 17,796.11, the Plantation Index fell 72.75 points to 7,504.83, while the Industrial Index eased 0.41 point to 3,221.55.

Weekly turnover increased to 11.68 billion units worth RM10.15bil from 10.65 billion units worth RM9.9bil previously.

Main Market volume declined to 5.66 billion shares valued at RM8.99bil from the previous week’s 6.81 billion shares worth RM9.05bil.

Warrants turnover improved to 2.98 billion units worth RM872.93mil from 1.8 billion units worth RM488.26mil.

The Ace Market volume narrowed to 1.73 billion shares worth RM238.88mil from 2.03 billion shares valued at RM360.64mil. – Bernama

FBM KLCI FUTURES

Agong’s birthday and Awal Muharram, the Islamic New Year.

On a Thursday-to-Friday basis, September 2018 declined 17.5 points to 1,791.0, new contract month October 2018 stood at 1,786.0, December 2018 fell 18.5 points to 1,782.0 and distant month March 2019 shed 22 points to 1,775.0.

Turnover for the week dipped to 33,488 lots from 81,067 lots while open interest narrowed to 27,437 contracts from 40,070 contracts.

Compared to the previous Thursday, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI settled 20.49 points weaker at 1,799.17 on Friday. – Bernama

GOLD FUTURES

added.

On a Thursday-to-Friday basis, September 2018, October 2018 rose 25 ticks each to RM160.55 and RM160.90 a gramme respectively.

November 2018 added 27 ticks to RM161.35 a gramme while December 2018 improved 28 ticks to RM161.55 a gramme.

Weekly turnover for the week eased to seven lots worth RM112,155 from 11 lots worth RM173,985 in the previous week.

Open interest declined to 25 contracts from 37 contracts.

Bursa Malaysia and its derivatives are closed today and tomorrow for the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong's birthday as well as Awal Muharram respectively. – Bernama

KLIBOR FUTURES