KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — Bursa Malaysia is expected to continue its upward momentum next week, driven by positive sentiment and improving foreign funds participation, a dealer said.
Inter-Pacific Asset Management Sdn Bhd executive director and fund manager Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) is expected to move between 1,510 and 1,520 next week.
“The local bourse saw strong bargain hunting which pushed up the FBM KLCI to almost a two-month high last week. I expect foreign buyers will continue (to come into the market) to lift the index. Previously, we had strong buying in energy and technology stocks.
“The gains in the key index was mainly due to the investors’ reaction to better-than-expected corporate results, as well as the statement by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that the interest rate (in US) might slow down,” he told Bernama.
Nazri Khan said the US economy is in a technical recession but indicators such as the labour market and consumer spending do not point to this decline.
At Friday’s close, the FBM KLCI was 0.07 per cent or 1.03 points higher to finish at 1,492.23 from Thursday’s close of 1,491.20.
On a weekly basis, the benchmark index expanded 26.43 points to 1,492.23, from 1,465.80, at the end of the previous week.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 205.82 points to 10,601.90, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 273.03 points to 10,734.77, the FBM 70 was 308.41 points higher at 12,758.44, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 199.04 points to 10,352.88, and the FBM ACE improved 58.83 points to 4,848.00.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index ticked up 195.70 points to 16,645.39, the Energy Index was 28.40 points higher at 671.24, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 7.33 points to 184.37, while the Plantation Index added 132.09 points to 6,998.34.
The Main Market volume was higher at 8.57 billion shares valued at RM6.45 billion against 6.80 billion shares valued at RM6.03 billion in the previous week.
Warrants volume slipped to 1.50 billion units worth RM275.57 million versus 1.53 billion units worth RM327.00 million last week.
The ACE Market volume shrank to 2.16 billion shares valued at RM770.09 million from 2.44 billion shares valued at RM572.31 million the week before. — Bernama
