KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 ― Bursa Malaysia is expected to trade range-bound next week with the key index to hover in the 1,470-1,500 range, an analyst said.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng expects the trading to be quiet for next week in conjunction with Christmas and year-end holidays.

"Nonetheless, we do not discount the possibility of a year-end rally which may send the benchmark index above 1,500 points,” he told Bernama.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said sentiment in Asia is boosted by Chinese policymaker's pledge to support the broader economy during the reopening process.

"It was reported that inbound travellers would only need to face three days of quarantine, which suggests China is on a fast track to reopen the country.

"Hence, I suspect the local investors will remain opportunistic buyers on any sell-off,” he said.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the key index fell 3.86 points to 1,474.68 from 1,478.54 a week earlier.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index eased 17.92 points to 10,589.29, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 40.70 points to 10,707.72 and the FBMT 100 Index lost 11.10 points to 10,301.19.

The FBM ACE Index slipped 18.73 points to 5,480.67 and the FBM 70 Index improved 54.95 points to 12,981.61.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 2.34 points to 178.92, the Plantation Index dropped 252.70 points to 6,785.23 and the Energy Index was down 9.56 points to 781.75, but the Financial Services Index grew by 60.53 points to 16,624.03.

Weekly turnover declined to 13.33 billion units worth RM7.85 billion from 13.59 billion units worth RM9.41 billion in the previous week.

The Main Market volume went down to 7.56 billion shares valued at RM5.73 billion against 8.33 billion shares valued at RM7.68 billion last week.

Warrants volume went up to 1.54 billion units worth RM328.58 million from 1.47 billion units worth RM315.35 million previously.

The ACE Market volume widened to 4.23 billion shares worth RM1.78 billion versus 3.78 billion shares worth RM1.41 billion a week ago.

Bursa Malaysia Derivatives will be closed on Monday December 26 for Christmas holiday and there will be no after-hour session on the eve of a public holiday and on the night of the public holiday. ― Bernama