KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia is likely to consolidate with an upward bias next week on mild bargain-hunting activities.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd research vice-president Vincent Lau said the key index is anticipated to swing between 1,520 and 1,550 points.
“On the broader market, buying momentum is expected to remain vibrant next week, mainly supported by retail participation as many employees have started to work from home during the conditional movement control order (CMCO),” he said.
The CMCO in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya runs from October 14 until 27, while in Sabah, it is being enforced from October 13 until 26.
Another dealer noted that market players would also keep an eye on the latest political developments in the country.
“The lingering political noises on the local front would inevitably cause some pullbacks on the stock market next week,” said the dealer who requested anonymity.
For the week just ended, the local bourse mostly moved in the negative zone, battered by the rising political unease and global resurgence of Covid-19 cases.
Externally, the local exchange was in line with its regional peers over the past week.
It was also influenced by Wall Street’s overnight performance, as well as statement made by the United States (US) Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said that it was unlikely that a stimulus bill would be passed before the US presidential election day on Nov 3.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI ended 26.51 points lower at 1,503.84 from 1,530.35 previously.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index shrank 82.85 points to 10,938.07, the FBMT 100 Index contracted 100.59 points to 10,740.22 but the FBM Emas Shariah Index strengthened 9.88 points to 13,140.61.
The FBM 70, meanwhile, jumped 207.07 points to 14,571.71 and the FBM ACE surged 414.74 points to 10,971.88.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index declined 254.71 points to 12,409.67, the Plantation Index retreated 216.71 points to 6,858.51 while the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.63 points to 143.60.
The Technology Index went up 30.61 points to 59.02 while the Healthcare Index soared 273.74 points to 4,227.17.
Weekly turnover grew to 33.97 billion units worth RM23.47 billion compared with 30.51 billion units worth RM18.12 billion last week.
Main Market volume widened to 19.81 billion shares valued at RM17.91 billion from 13.87 billion shares valued at RM13.99 billion in the previous week.
Warrants turnover was higher at 4.06 billion units worth RM988.80 million against 3.12 billion units worth RM765.05 million in the week earlier.
The ACE Market volume also expanded to 10.08 billion shares valued at RM4.57 billion against 9.11 billion shares valued at RM3.37 billion previously. – Bernama, October 17, 2020
