KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 ― Bursa Malaysia is expected to stay in consolidation mode with a slight positive bias next week following decent corporate earnings and attractive valuations.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said additionally, the increasing daily trading volume suggests that the overall sentiment is improving.

"The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) has been consolidating within the 1,542 and 1,558 range following its successful breakout from the 1,540 mark on February 20, 2024.

"Despite this consolidation, the index has maintained its position above all Exponential Moving Averages (EMA), indicating an increasing potential for upward movement.

"Hence, we believe that the benchmark index is still in consolidation mode with a slight positive bias,” he told Bernama.

Therefore, Thong anticipates the index to stage a rebound and hover within the range of 1,540 to 1,570 next week, with immediate support at 1,534, followed by 1,520.

"The next notable resistance level is at 1,570, and a breakthrough above this point could indicate a potential for further upward momentum,” he added.

The market was mostly lower this week due to profit-taking following recent gains and was also in line with the downbeat performance in the regional markets.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI eased 11.09 points to 1,538.02 from last week's 1,549.11.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 109.05 points to 11,410.31, the FBMT 100 Index lost 97.40 points to 11,074.77, the FBM 70 Index dipped 207.80 points to 15,384.72, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 90.23 points to 11,471.55, and the FBM ACE Index tumbled 125.53 points to 4,760.36.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 170.17 points to 17,175.22, the Energy Index shed 20.24 points to 909.65, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 2.07 points to 175.78, and the Plantation Index fell 23.97 points to 7,223.86.

Weekly turnover jumped 22.55 billion units worth RM19.61 billion from 18.60 billion units worth RM13.51 billion in the preceding week.

The Main Market volume expanded to 15.51 billion shares worth RM18.29 billion from 11.77 billion shares worth RM12.15 billion a week ago.

Warrants turnover increased to 4.25 billion units valued at RM594.90 million versus 4.11 billion units valued at RM598 million last week.

The ACE Market volume improved to 2.74 billion shares worth RM718.65 million from 2.65 billion shares worth RM755.20 million previously. ― Bernama