KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — Bursa Malaysia is expected to trade in a cautious tone next week as investors track the US bond yields performance and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) meeting outcome.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim believes investors will continued to monitor closely the movement of bond yields after the benchmark US 10-year note climbed as much as 11 basis-points to 1.75 per cent on Thursday, the highest since January 2020.

The US bond yields have continued to sap appetite for the regional equities.

“The PBoC will also be holding its meeting next week, where investors will look closely if the central bank will implement monetary policy tightening as the economy improves,” he told Bernama.

Bank of Thailand and Central Bank of Philippines’ meetings will also take place next week.

In addition, Adam said Malaysia is facing geopolitical tensions as North Korea has cut off diplomatic ties with the country, accusing it of a ‘super-large hostile act’ after its top court ruled a North Korean man can be extradited to the US to face money-laundering charges.

Meanwhile, an analyst said the latest development of US and China, whose talks in Alaska got off to a rough start on Thursday, may affect sentiment.

In addition, investors may monitor the Russian President Vladimir Putin-US President Joe Biden spat after the ‘killer’ accusation. Biden said Russia will ‘pay’ for meddling in the 2020 US elections.

Throughout the week, the domestic share market were mostly higher amid improved economic hopes before ending the week on a negative note, amid selling pressure.

These following the introduction of the additional RM20 billion stimulus package — the Strategic Programme to Empower the People and Economy (PEMERKASA) and the US Federal Reserve (Fed) pledged to keep interest rates at near zero.

The Fed also projected an economic growth of 6.5 per cent for the US, Malaysia’s top trading partner, as the Covid-19 crisis winds down.

Overall, the trading range of the FBM KLCI is expected to be within the 1,605 to 1,625 range.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the benchmark FBM KLCI rose 10.50 points to 1,626.19 from last week’s 1,615.69.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index increased 61.08 points to 11,923.21, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 62.71 points to 11,601.58 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 93.89 points to 13,229.89.

The FBM 70 surged 113.22 points to 15,765.22 and the FBM ACE Index rose 24.15 points to 10,689.34.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index expanded 1.03 points to 193.13, the Plantation Index gained 38.83 points to 7,175.62, the Technology Index was 0.24 of-a-point higher at 84.00 and the Healthcare Index was up 54.57 points to 3,047.65.

However, the Financial Services Index dropped 40.21 points to 15,509.65 and the Energy Index declined 41.69 points to 960.60.

The Plantation Index gained 38.83 points to 7,175.62, the Technology Index was 0.24 of-a-point higher at 84 and the Healthcare Index was up 54.57 points to 3,047.65.

Turnover surged to 53.03 billion units worth RM26.24 from 48.11 billion units worth RM30.34 billion in the previous week.

Main Market volume narrowed slightly to 34.85 billion shares valued at RM21.24 billion versus 34.91 billion shares valued at RM26.72 billion last week.

Warrants volume depleted to 1.70 billion units worth RM294.43 million against 2.50 billion units worth RM423.31 million previously.

The ACE Market volume soared to 16.48 billion shares valued at RM4.70 billion from 9.92 billion shares valued at RM2.83 billion the week earlier. — Bernama