KUALA LUMPUR – The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) is likely to trade within a tight range of between 1,510 and 1,530 points next week amid reduced volatility in the market following the announcement of the new prime minister, said an analyst.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the trend of daily Covid-19 cases would largely influence the movement of the market.
Yesterday, Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 cases crossed the 23,000 mark for the first time with 23,564 infections, up from Thursday’s 22,948, raising the country’s cumulative tally of infections to 1.51 million.
Adam said in terms of domestic data released, Malaysia’s inflation rate for July will be released next Wednesday, and is expected to be softer as the low base effect from last year subsides.
“Likewise, Malaysia’s exports for July, which will be released next Friday, are estimated to chart year-on-year growth, albeit at a slower pace, caused by the dissipating low base effect combined with the enhanced movement control order in certain localities of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, which led to closures of some factories in the affected areas in the first half of July,” he said.
Internationally, he said investors are waiting to see the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s annual Economic Policy Symposium between August 26 and 28 on the anticipation on when the Fed would taper its bond purchases.
For the week just ended, Bursa Malaysia traded on a cautious note amid the political developments and high Covid-19 cases.
The FBM KLCI index ended 0.2% higher yesterday at 1,518 points, bucking the regional trend of Asian peers, such as Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, which experienced losses.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI rose 12.92 points to end the week at 1,518.03 from 1,505.11 a week earlier.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 92.94 points higher at 11,107.96, the FBMT 100 Index gained 88.91 points to 10,820.64, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index strengthened 126.30 points to 12,217.51.
The FBM Ace gained 6.98 points to 7,146.36, and the FBM 70 widened 107.54 points to 14,598.85.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index surged 202.97 points to 6,416.38, the Financial Services Index climbed 61.77 points to 14,842.47, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.76 of-a-point to 188.26.
The Healthcare Index improved 6.48 points to 2,761.06, the Energy Index eased 2.87 points to 718.02, and the Technology Index declined edged down 0.96 of-a-point to 89.17.
Weekly turnover increased to 20.16 billion units valued at RM10.82 billion from 15.28 billion units valued at RM9.67 billion in the previous week.
Main Market volume widened to 13.46 billion shares worth RM9.17 billion from last week’s 10.15 billion shares worth RM8.12 billion.
Warrants volume was slightly higher at 1.38 billion units valued at RM212.08 million against 1.30 billion units valued at RM174.24 million previously.
The Ace Market volume appreciated to 4.99 billion shares worth RM1.42 billion from 3.59 billion shares worth RM1.36 billion last week. – Bernama, August 21, 2021
