KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI is expected to consolidate sideways this week due to the weakening of the ringgit along with the Middle East tension and pressure from the global bond market rout.
Inter-Pacific Asset Management Bhd chief economist and fund manager Datuk Dr Nazri Khan said the benchmark index might move within a tight range of between 1,430 and 1,450 next week with relative strength in plantation stocks as the biggest movers.
Despite renewed concerns over the United States’ interest rates and its 10-year Treasury yields hitting the highest level since 2007 last Thursday, he expected the rising prices of crude oil and other commodities such as palm oil to cushion the local bourse.
“Market conditions, which still depend on Budget 2024 news, lacked significant positive leads to provide strong buying impetuses.“As it is, the FBM KLCI’s recent gains have been on selective bargain-hunting in stocks such as Bumi Armada
, Gamuda and Malaysian Resources Corp, while most stocks are on a holding sideway bullish pattern due to the few available leads,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng anticipated the key index to remain in consolidation phase, trading within the 1,430 to 1,450 range for the week.
He placed the immediate resistance at 1,460 and support at 1,430.
For the week just ended, Bursa Malaysia’s market breadth was decidedly negative with losers being more than twice as many as gainers, mostly due to the external developments.
The increased selling also saw total volume rising nearly 20% from the prior week.
Nazri Khan said market conditions could turn choppier over the near term as sentiment is still meek.
“If the level fails to hold, the 200-day moving average support line at 1,430 points will come into play.
“On the flipside, the 50-day moving average resistance level is at the 1,450 psychological level, followed by the 1,460 level,” he added.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI eased 3.1 points to end the week at 1,441.04 versus 1,444.14 seven days earlier.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 74.5 points lower at 10,620.44, the FBMT 100 Index declined 58.9 points to 10,297.98, the FBM Emas Syariah Index fell 65.52 points to 10,859.95, the FBM 70 Index dropped 240.53 points to 13,972.88, and the FBM ACE Index shed 15.26 points to 5,129.69.
Sector-wise, the financial services index erased 73.85 points to 16,190.33 and the industrial products and services index slipped 2.05 points to 172.39, while the plantation index rose 47.24 points to 6,909.97 and the energy index added 3.72 points to 881.08.
