KUALA LUMPUR (May 27): Bursa Malaysia is expected to continue to trade in cautious mode next week, amid concerns over global economic developments, an analyst said.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the local market undertone will remain cautious until the US debt ceiling issue is resolved, although bargain-hunting activities may emerge as well.
“Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trade range-bound next week within 1,400-1,410 points. On a technical point of view, we see immediate support at 1,400, and resistance at 1,440.
“Additionally, we believe next week's focus will remain on the US debt ceiling issue and local corporate earnings towards the end of the results season,” he told Bernama.
On a Friday-on-Friday basis, the KLCI declined 25.56 points to end the week at 1,402.98, from last week’s 1,428.54.
The local bourse traded in a declining pattern during the week, mainly influenced by external factors, namely worries over the progress of the US debt ceiling issue and the worsening Sino-US tensions, which dampened sentiment across the region.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 178.28 points to 10,296.47, the FBMT 100 Index slid 167.73 points to 10,002.63, the FBM Emas Shariah Index tumbled 160.48 points to 10,669.03, the FBM 70 Index fell 165.75 points to 13,480.00, and the FBM ACE Index dipped 22.00 points to 4,980.90.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index lost 271.29 points to 6,755.26, the Energy Index erased 31.22 points to 808.31, the Financial Services Index dropped 301.80 points to 15,304.43, and the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.91 points to 164.08.
Weekly turnover declined to 12.60 billion units valued at RM9.06 billion, versus 13.33 billion units valued at RM8.18 billion last Friday.
The Main Market volume trimmed to 8.01 billion shares worth RM7.80 billion, compared with 8.39 billion shares worth RM7.05 billion in the previous week.
Warrant turnover shrank to 1.60 billion units valued at RM222.39 million, from 1.85 billion units valued at RM288.01 million a week ago.
The ACE Market volume decreased to 2.95 billion shares worth RM875.29 million, from 3.08 billion shares worth RM830.39 million last week.