KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — Bursa Malaysia is expected to maintain its sideways pattern next week until new catalysts emerge, according to Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd.

Equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the brokerage expects trading to be muted in conjunction with Christmas followed by the New Year holidays.

From a technical point of view, Thong said the short-term outlook for the FBM KLCI remains cautious, reflecting subdued momentum and weak recovery signals while a medium-term rebound will require a decisive move above the 50-day exponential moving average (EMA). "Long-term prospects remain favourable as long as key support levels are maintained,” he told Bernama.

For short-term trading, he said traders should watch out for the 1,590 and 1,610 levels while long-term investors may consider accumulating near 1,570, focusing on stocks with strong fundamentals. "We advise investors to monitor the moving average convergence/ divergence (MACD) line closely for a bullish crossover as this could be an early signal of recovery,” Thong added.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes agrees that next week’s market is expected to see the usual holiday slowdown. Unless a geopolitical shock occurs, he anticipates that the market will maintain a somewhat neutral stance.

"Yet, with US President-elect Donald Trump in the picture, there is no guarantee that headlines would remain quiet. Therefore, the sentiment is likely to stay guarded as market participants remain wary of any sudden developments,” Innes said.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI weakened by 17.34 points to 1,591.41 from 1,608.75 in the previous week.

The FBM Emas Index lost 133.13 points to 12,222.94, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 128.68 points to 11,908.60 and the FBM 70 Index declined 1964.74 points to 18,377.47. The FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 150.38 points to 12,221.81 and the FBM ACE Index was 41.51 points lower at 5,268.65.

By sector, the Financial Services Index tumbled 414.08 points to 18,703.35, the Plantation Index shed 137.78 points to 7,497.27 but the Healthcare Index gained 3.75 points to 2,337.41.

The Technology Index shaved 0.20 points to 63.50, the Energy Index dropped 15.89 points to 804.11 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 5.51 points to 170.26.

Turnover expanded to 15.30 billion units worth RM13.97 billion compared with 14.46 billion units valued at RM12.43 billion in the previous week.

The Main Market volume rose to 8.10 billion shares valued at RM12.79 billion from 7.4 billion shares worth RM11.18 billion last week.

Warrant turnover narrowed to 4.31 billion units worth RM450.37 million compared with 4.53 billion units valued at RM606.64 million previously.

The ACE Market volume advanced to 2.22 billion shares valued at RM731.38 million versus 2.14 billion shares worth RM637.07 million last week. — Bernama