Market outlook remains positive

BURSA Malaysia is expected move upwards, supported by the firmer ringgit against the US dollar and the continuation of foreign fund inflow, said a dealer.

Affin Hwang Investment Bank vice-president and head of retail research Datuk Nazri Khan Adam Khan said the country received a net fund inflow of RM10bil this year after experiencing outflows in the last three years. He said year-to-date, the ringgit appreciated about 10% against the greenback, while Bursa Malaysia grew by 8%.

“I expect the FBM KLCI to move up to 1,780 level before the first week of 2018 as investors are snapping out stocks before year-end,” he told Bernama.

Besides that, Nazri Khan said recovery in commodity prices, including Brent crude and crude palm oil also translated into a strong sentiment for Malaysia.

“Against these backdrop of strength, I believe the local market should be able to play catch-up with the rest of the world,” he added.

Nazri Khan also expects economic growth to remain healthy with a 5% growth expected next year.

On the external front, he said the major US tax cuts approved last week were expected spur American economy, besides having a spillover effect on emerging markets like Malaysia.

On a Friday-to-Friday comparison, the FBM KLCI gained 7.17 points to 1,760.24, with the market being mostly influenced by window dressing and profit-taking ahead of the festive season.

The FBM Emas Index improved 72.91 points to 12,661.75, the FBMT 100 Index increased 77.42 points to 12,334.27, the FBM KUALA LUMPUR

The FBM KLCI futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is likely to move uptrend this week on firmer foreign fund inflows and stronger ringgit against the US dollar, dealers said.

The sentiment this week would also likely be in tandem with the cash market.

For the week just ended, the futures market was mostly higher in tandem with the cash market.

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The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to see cautious trading this week due to lower export data released by a cargo surveyor.

According to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services last Thursday, the shipments of Malaysian palm oil fell by 2% for the first 20 days of December from the same period last month.

It was reported that the inventory levels in Malaysia rose 16% to 2.56 million tonnes in November, the highest in nearly two years.

Interband Group of Companies senior palm oil trader Jim Teh said the higher CPO inventory in the country would pull the prices down. KUALA LUMPUR

The Malaysian rubber market is expected to remain subdued this week on weak demand as traders will be away for the year-end holidays, dealers said.

A dealer said the commodity price would likely move sideways and would also depend on market supply and the ringgit’s performance.

The movement of rubber futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange would also influence prices on the domestic market this week.

Meanwhile, the International Rubber Consortium (ITRC) said Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia had committed to withhold exports of 350,000 tonnes of natural rubber KUALA LUMPUR

The Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) is expected to be quiet this week due to the holidays break, a dealer said.

He said the tin prices would likely be traded at the current level of US$19,100 per tonne.

For the week just ended, the KLTM was higher for the first four trading days before the KLTM closed unchanged on Friday.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the price on ./ 0 ./ Emas Shariah Index surged 120.14 points to 13,010.87, the FBM 70 bagged 189.73 points to 15,650.44 and the FBM Ace added 37.08 points to 6,465.50.

On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index rose 8.32 points to 16,594.83, the Plantation Index improved 90.29 points to 7,900.40, while the Industrial Index advanced 12.37 points to 3,192.53.

Total turnover increased to 12.22 billion shares worth RM10.94bil from 11.07 billion units worth RM13.65bil the previous week.

Main Market volume slipped to 6.45 billion shares worth RM9.92bil from to 7.09 billion shares valued at RM12.96bil.

Warrants turnover was up at 1.03 billion units valued at RM178.09mil against the previous week’s 974.17 million units worth RM126.08mil.

The Ace Market expanded to 4.61 billion shares worth RM804.24mil from 2.95 billion shares valued at RM546.69mil transacted previously. – Bernama

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On a Friday-to-Friday basis, December 2017 rose 8.0 points to 1,756.50, January 2018 gained 8.5 points to 1,758, March 2018 increased 5.0 points to 1,754.50 and June 2018 advanced 7.0 points to 1,750.

Weekly turnover perked to 29,650 lots versus 24,778 lots, while open interest rose to 37,592 contracts from 28,663 contracts.

For the week just ended, the FBM KLCI improved 7.17 points to 1,760.24 from 1,753.07 the previous Friday. – Bernama

For the week just ended, the local market was traded lower.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, January 2018 increased RM61 to RM2,407 per tonne, February 2018 eased RM49 to RM2,430 per tonne, March 2018 erased RM67 to RM2,451 per tonne, and April 2018 gave up RM84 for RM2,467 per tonne.

Weekly turnover depreciated to 223,518 lots from 277,549 lots the previous Friday and open interest shed 297,310 contracts from 306,909 contracts, previously.

On the physical market, January South was RM20 higher at RM2,410 per tonne.

The Kuala Lumpur Rubber Market is closed today for the Christmas holiday. – Bernama

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under the implementation of the Agreed Export Tonnage Scheme (AETS) with immediate effect until March 31, 2018.

The three countries pledged to implement and comply with the AETS at the ITRC Senior Officials Meeting in Bangkok last Friday.

The local market is closed today for the Christmas holiday.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board's noon price for tyre-grade SMR 20 was 15 sen lower at 571.5 sen a kg, while latex-in-bulk fell 13.5 sen to 452.0 sen a kg.

The 5pm unofficial closing price for SMR 20 dropped five sen to 572.5 sen a kg but latex-in-bulk rose 0.5 sen to 449.5 sen a kg. – Bernama

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the KLTM rose by US$510 to US$19,410 per tonne from US$18,900 per tonne the previous week, while on the LME, it gained by US$475 to end at US$19,375 a tonne from US$18,900 a tonne the previous week.

Turnover decreased to 246 tonnes from 163 tonnes.

On price differential between the KLTM and LME, KLTM was on premium of US$35 while during the previous week, the KLTM and LME were at par. – Bernama