KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — Bursa Malaysia is expected to continue consolidating and trade in cautious mode next week as investors weigh the resurgence of new Covid-19 cases and its impact on the economy and companies’ earnings.
Bank Islam chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) is expected to hover in a tight range between 1,575 to 1,585 in the week ahead.
“Despite that, it is quite heartening to note that there have been net purchases from foreign funds of late.
“Attractive valuations and perhaps the unveiling of the 12th Malaysian Plan on Sept 27 as well as Budget 2022 in October would motivate foreign investors to come to Malaysia,” he told Bernama.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee expects the FBM KLCI to remain stuck in consolidation mode next week following a mini rally in late August.
“We reckon that the uncertainty and heightened volatility on Wall Street should see overall sentiment in regional markets as well as the local bourse to be more cautious,” he said.
He noted that Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision to maintain the overnight policy rate at 1.75 per cent recently was seen as a precursor for a rate hike going forward, and coupled with the regional volatility, this would have an impact on the local bourse.
Rakuten vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng is of the view that with valuations of Malaysian stocks still considerably cheap compared to regional markets, foreign funds would be drawn in, hence expect to see some bargain hunting next week.
“We advise investors to look into recovery themes such as tourism, gaming, and consumer as they have retraced recently from the jump due to market weakness, hence any pullback could be an accumulation opportunity. We see banks to remain a safe bet for long-term play,” he said.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the benchmark index eased 13.22 points to end the week at 1,575.97 from 1,589.19 previously.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 72.17 points weaker at 11,522.81, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 80.67 points to 11,212.32, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 80.55 points to 12,614.20.
The FBM 70 declined 56.14 points to 15,004.11 while the FBM ACE added 3.32 points to 7,255.10.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index shed 95.77 points to 6,604.22, the Financial Services Index tumbled 146.6 points to 15,390.17 but the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.98 of a point to 200.90.
The Healthcare Index dropped 101.27 points to 2,697.29, the Energy Index slid 10.31 points to 760.63 but the Technology Index edged up 1.65 points to 91.76.
During the trading week, weekly turnover increased to 23.66 billion units valued at RM14.69 billion, from 17.65 billion units valued at RM12.71 billion in the previous week.
The Main Market volume widened to 15.31 billion shares worth RM12.89 billion from last week’s 12.24 billion shares worth RM11.38 billion.
Warrants volume was higher at 1.80 billion units valued at RM272.84 million against 1.31 billion units valued at RM182.24 million previously.
The ACE Market volume rose to 6.48 billion shares worth RM1.52 billion from 4.09 billion shares worth RM1.14 billion last week. — Bernama
