KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 — Bursa Malaysia is expected to trend higher and test the 1,680 points level next week, supported by bargain hunting activities and a slowdown in foreign selling, a dealer said.
“Based on the encouraging volume seen on the local bourse the past three days, we can see that investors are returning to the local market,” said Affin Hwang Investment Bank Vice-President/Head of Retail Research Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan.
He told Bernama that volume traded, which hit 2.5 billion shares on Thursday, reflected that bargain hunting activities had taken place this week and would prolong into the following week.
In addition, Nazri said the recovery in commodity prices, especially oil and gas prices; coupled with the optimism of US President-elect Donald Trump’s tax cut plan after his inauguration on January 20, 2017 were also expected to bring more cheer to global stock markets.
“Besides, the anticipation of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which measures the performance of just 30 US companies, hitting over 20,000-point will spur positive sentiment in the market.
“While, regionally, Bank of Japan and Bank of China’s accommodative monetary policy stance would also lend support to the local bourse,” he said.
For the week just-ended, improving crude oil prices and buying momentum in heavyweight stocks saw share prices recovering lost ground.
The local bourse was closed on Monday in lieu of the New Year falling on Sunday.
On a week-to-week basis, the key index FBM KLCI rose 33.76 points to 1,675.49 from 1,641.73 on December 30, 2016.
The FBM Emas Index jumped 232.35 points to 11,698.89, FBMT 100 Index rose 218.69 points to 11,407.78, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 278.42 points higher at 12,292.84, the FBM Ace gained 184.82 points to 4,885.53 and the FBM 70 surged 211.22 points to 13,246.33.
On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index expanded 257.44 points to 14,640.49, Industrial Index improved 71.9 points to 3,194.39 and the Plantation Index put on 142.14 points to 7,890.85.
Weekly turnover jumped to 8.13 billion units, worth RM5.52 billion, from 5.72 billion shares, valued at RM5.64 billion, registered last Friday.
Main market volume soared to 15.96 billion, worth RM6.22 billion, from 4.37 billion shares, valued at RM5.44 billion, recorded previously.
Warrant turnover climbed to 846.86 million units, worth RM139.08 million, from last Friday’s 590.97 million units worth RM94.46 million.
The ACE market increased to 1.3 billion shares valued at RM158.31 million from 757.13 million shares, worth RM97.77 million, transacted on December 30, 2017. — Bernama
