KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 — Bursa Malaysia is likely to continue trading on a cautious tone amid heightened volatility, partly due to the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant in South Africa and rising new infection cases in Europe, said an analyst.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng anticipated the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) to hover between 1,500 and 1,520 next week with immediate support-resistance level at 1,500-1,535.
“We expect bargain hunting activities to emerge next week with focus on glove and oil and gas counters,” he told Bernama.
On Friday, Malaysia saw its Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 2.9 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 123.7 in October 2021 against 120.2 in the same month of the preceding year due to the rising fuel prices and the discontinuation of electricity discount in September 2021.
The CPI, a measure of inflation, for the coming months would be influenced by external factors such as the rise in global crude oil and food prices.
Overall, the local bourse was traded weaker during the week just ended due to lack of fresh market moving news.
The FBM KLCI ended the week at a three-month low of 1,512.22 as investors continued to shed their holdings amid weak sentiment. A dealer said a recent batch of corporate earnings also offered little direction for the market.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the benchmark index eased 13.32 points to end the week at 1,512.22 from 1,525.54 previously.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 166.51 points to 11,079.13, the FBMT100 Index dropped 132.93 points to 10,762.65, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 187.01 points to 12,040.74, the FBM 70 slumped 328.95 points to 14,454.61, while the FBM ACE erased 351.75 points to 6,463.31.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index declined 91.91 points to 15,143.67, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 3.58 points to 196.21, and the Energy Index fell 58.54 points to 711.26.
The Healthcare Index improved by 79.79 points to 2,387.85, the Plantation Index slid 140.06 points to 6,465.04, while the Technology Index went down 2.0 points to 98.47.
Weekly turnover rose to 16.90 billion units worth RM12.34 billion against 15.25 billion units worth RM11.17 billion in the previous week.
The Main Market volume was slightly higher at 10.88 billion shares valued at RM10.64 billion from 10.02 billion shares valued at RM9.54 billion in the prior week.
Warrants volume improved to 1.63 billion units worth RM641.47 million versus 1.42 billion units worth RM299.53 million previously.
The ACE Market volume appreciated to 4.36 billion shares worth RM1.39 billion from 3.78 billion shares worth RM1.33 billion in the previous week. — Bernama
