Bursa M’sia likely to trade range-bound this week

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is expected to trade range-bound with an upside bias hovering within the range of 1,555-1,590 this week, says an analyst.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng predicts immediate support at 1,555, followed by 1,545.

“We are positive about the return of foreign funds into the region and anticipate that buying will continue into next week. However, we do not discount the possibility of profit-taking activities.

“The benchmark index surpassed the stiff resistance of 1,570 and surged to a two-year high last Wednesday.

“Although there was a pullback after the rally, we interpret this correction as healthy consolidation necessary to sustain the upward trend,” he told Bernama.

While he anticipates a brief pause for the bulls following the strong rally, he said the FBM KLCI has maintained its position above all exponential moving averages (EMAS).

EMAS are used to measure trend direction over a period of time in technical analysis of stocks.

They are similar to simple moving averages (SMA) that measure trend direction over a period of time.

However, whereas SMA simply calculates an average of price data, EMA applies more weight to data that is more current.

“The upward trajectory of the 20-day EMA suggests that the index is in consolidation mode with a positive bias,” he added.

Last Wednesday, Bursa Malaysia closed at a two-year high with the key index rising 0.63% to 1,571.48, driven by a positive outlook on the local bourse and amid an upbeat performance by regional peers.

On a Friday-to-friday basis, the FBM KLCI increased 27.59 points to 1,575.16 from the previous week’s 1,547.57.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index jumped 230.72 points to 11,826.79, the FBM 70 Index went up 358.39 points to 16,416.78, the FBMT 100 Index perked up by 213.50 points to 11,461.45, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 222.08 points to 11,991.95, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 203.03 points to 5,062.01.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index went up 27.30 points to 7,402.95, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 2.84 points to 187.33, the Financial Services Index rose 185.03 points to 17,303.81 and the Energy Index edged up 8.23 points to 977.42.

Weekly turnover declined to 19.55 billion units worth RM14.43 billion compared with 21.21 billion units worth RM15.66 billion in the preceding week.

Main Market volume narrowed to 11.43 billion shares valued at RM12.71 billion from 12.51 billion shares valued at RM13.95 billion a week ago.

Warrants turnover decreased to 5.16 billion units worth RM702.34 million versus 5.38 billion units worth RM662.45 million last week.

The ACE Market volume eased to 2.93 billion shares valued at RM1.02 billion against 3.27 billion shares valued at RM1.04 billion previously.