Wall Street bounce to support KLCI on Friday

Boost for Bursa Malaysia with listing of Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is expected to see more upside on Friday and snap the two-straight days of losses following the firmer overnight close on Wall Street and firmer European bourses.

BIMB Securities Research said European markets closed sharply higher with bank and commodity shares following a rebound in oil price and strong corporate earnings. 

Wall Street also ended sharply higher. The DJIA gained 1.29% to end at 16,697.29 and the S&P500 rose 1.13% to 1,951.70 respectively. 

Earlier, key regional markets ended mostly lower, dragged down by the tumble in China stocks. 

At Bursa Malaysia, the FBM KLCI lost 6.01 points or 0.36% to end Thursday at 1,658.16 dragged down mainly by O&G and plantation counters. It fell 11 points on Wednesday.

Trading participation saw net selling by local institutions while foreign institutions and local retail were net buyers. 

“Foreign funds were net buyers at RM120.1mil while retail investors continued to pick up stocks with net buying ay RM37.5mil. Local institutions were net sellers at -RM157.6mil.

“We expect the local market to trend higher today following overnight gains at most western markets with the index hover in the region 1,660 to 1,665,” it said.