Bursa Malaysia to see cautious trading on lack of catalysts

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is expected to witness cautious trading amid a lack of major catalysts to influence investors’ risk appetite.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said accumulation of stocks would persist on dips, with the FBM Bursa Malaysia (FBM KLCI) remaining well supported above the 1,520 level.

“As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to hover within the range of 1,525 to 1,545.

“From the technical point of view, the benchmark index will see its immediate support at 1,520, followed by the psychological support at 1,500 with resistance at the 1,565 level,” he told Bernama.

On Friday, the benchmark index rose 1.75 points to close at 1,525.54, lifted mainly by telecommunications and media counters.

“Key regional markets were mostly positive after Wall Street closed at a record high during the previous session.

“However, investor sentiment in Hong Kong and China was cautious after Alibaba missed revenue and earnings expectations, causing the stock to fall more than 10 per cent,” Thong said.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the benchmark index eased 5.68 points to end the week at 1,525.54 from 1,531.22 previously.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 83.21 points to 11,245.64, the FBMT100 Index dropped 71.73 points to 10,895.58, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 112.27 points to 12,227.75.

The FBM 70 shed 218.98 points to 14,783.56 while the FBM ACE erased 162.93 points to 6,815.06.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 19.87 points to 15,225.58, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.70 points easier at 199.97, and the Energy Index fell 19.05 points to 769.80.

The Plantation Index slid 67.84 points to 6,605.10, the Healthcare Index erased 51.93 points to 2,308.06, while the Technology Index rose 1.31 points to 100.47.

Weekly turnover declined to 15.25 billion units worth RM11.17 billion from 15.77 billion units worth RM11.71 billion in the previous week.

The Main Market volume eased to 10.02 billion shares valued at RM9.54 billion from 10.30 billion shares valued at RM9.87 billion in the prior week. — Bernama