Bursa Malaysia is expected to surpass 1,600 points next week

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is expected to trade higher next week as traders react to the United States (US) headline inflation data released on Friday, an analyst said.

According to Bernama, UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Head of Investment Research, Mohd Sedek Jantan, said US monthly core purchasing consumption expenditure (PCE) for May 2024 increased 0.1 percent and the development supports expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will start lowering interest rates on September.

“Therefore, the FBM KLCI is expected to trade in the range of 1,610 to 1,650 next week. In addition, we project the strengthening of the Malaysian ringgit in the coming week.

“Due to the low PCE data, gold futures are expected to remain in an upward trend, trading in the range of US$2,320 to US$2,350. The risk of the stock market is increasing as valuations continue and increases occur,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd’s Vice President of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng, said he expects Bursa Malaysia to remain in consolidation mode next week despite the market being supported by attractive valuations and continued support from local institutions.

However, he pointed out that increasing global uncertainty may cause trading to be more cautious for the week ahead.

“The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) continued its decline last week but rose slightly on Friday. Despite the rally, we expect the KLCI may experience further consolidation and establish a base in the short to medium term.

“Therefore, we expect the benchmark index to fluctuate in the range of 1,580 to 1,600 next week with the immediate support level at 1,575, followed by 1,565 and the resistance level at 1,610 followed by 1,619,” he told Bernama.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI slipped 0.28 points to 1,590.09 from 1,590.37 last week.

Throughout the week, the market was mostly lower due to profit taking activity in line with the performance of most regional markets.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 28.43 points to 12,216.40, the FBMT 100 Index decreased by 47.92 points to 11,798.06, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 26.47 points to 12,552.70, the FBM 70 Index decreased by 85.22 points to 17,841.89, and the FBM ACE Index decreased by 15.77 points to 5,773.28 .

By sector, the Energy Index declined 7.58 points to 955.42, the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 1.94 points to 195.85, and the Plantation Index decreased 45.66 points to 6,982.72.

However, the Financial Services Index recorded 38.20 points to 17,454.73.

For the week just ended, the volume of trading increased to 23.5 billion units worth RM16.91 billion compared to 22.37 billion units worth RM17.69 billion in the previous week.

Main Market trading volume shrank to 12.71 billion shares worth RM14.66 billion from 12.93 billion shares worth RM15.49 billion last week.

Warrant trading volume increased to 6.36 billion units worth RM805.4 million compared to 5.13 billion units worth RM702.50 million last week.

ACE Market trading volume rose to 4.39 billion shares worth RM1.45 billion compared to 4.30 billion shares worth RM1.49 billion previously.