KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 — Bursa Malaysia is likely to see cautious trading next week post-15th General Election (GE15) as lingering political risks will keep investors grounded, a dealer said.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng says the short-term direction of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) would depend largely on the stability of the local political landscape.

"As such, we anticipate the benchmark index to trend sideways in the range of 1,430-1,460 next week with immediate resistance at 1,470 and support at 1,420,” he told Bernama.

GE15 will be held on November 19 and the results are expected to be announced later that night.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said gauging the post-election market reaction is always a challenge, especially with few easy choices for Malaysians at the ballot box.

"Still, we are not expecting an earthquake reaction like we saw post-2018 election, hence, any small surprises will likely be taken in stride as the political landscape is unlikely to change too much from the present malaise,” said Innes.

He added that for now, the investors are shrugging off hawkish US Federal Reserve (Fed) speak, which should be favourable for Bursa Malaysia.

However, Innes said with little in the way of US macro catalysts between now and the non-farm payrolls forecast (NFP) scheduled on Dec 2, investors could be reluctant to chase the market higher but will certainly remain in ‘buy-on-dip’ mode given the positive reopening signs coming out of China.

On Thursday, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) perked up 0.94 point, or 0.07 per cent, to end at its intraday high of 1,449.32 from Wednesday’s close of 1,448.38.

Compared to a week earlier, the key index fell 18.89 points from 1,468.21 previously.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 130.81 points to 10,398.77, the FBMT 100 Index slid 140.78 points to 10,010.81, and the FBM 70 lost 212.52 points to 12,159.50.

The FBM ACE fell 178.39 points to 4,914.92 and the FBM Emas Index dropped 137.66 points to 10,279.24.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 0.80 of a point to 178.60, the Plantation Index weakened by 22.50 points to 6,880.23, and the Energy Index inched down 0.99 of a point to 723.33.

The Financial Services Index trimmed 177.43 points to 16,175.80.

During the shortened trading week, weekly turnover reduced to 10.53 billion units worth RM6.81 billion from 15.83 billion units worth RM8.83 billion in the previous week.

The Main Market volume was lower at 7.15 billion shares valued at RM5.93 billion against last week’s 10.75 billion shares valued at RM7.62 billion.

Warrant volume lessened to 1.57 billion units worth RM289.54 million from 1.67 billion units worth RM358.37 million previously.

The ACE Market volume dropped to 1.80 billion shares valued at RM585.13 million from 3.38 billion shares valued at RM840.71 million. — Bernama