KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — Bursa Malaysia is expected to trade in a modest and range-bound trend next week, said an economist.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said while some degree of profit-taking may persist following recent gains, buying interest is likely to remain healthy and resilient, particularly within the mid- and small-cap segments.

“Foreign investor participation should also continue to improve, following a fifth consecutive session of net foreign buying as of Thursday.

“The advance 2025 gross domestic product (GDP) estimate reinforces the narrative of a domestically anchored and resilient growth profile, and with the index having sustainably crossed the 1,700 level, this provides further justification for foreign investors to reassess exposure to Malaysian equities,” he told Bernama.

On the macro front, domestically, the focus will be on Bank Negara Malaysia’s monetary policy meeting on Jan 23, where consensus expectations suggest that the policy rate will remain at 2.75 per cent.

“A stable interest rate environment should continue to support corporate fundamentals by anchoring financing costs and improving earnings visibility,” said Mohd Sedek.

Yesterday, the Department of Statistics Malaysia released advanced GDP estimates for the fourth quarter of 2025, projecting that Malaysia’s economy will grow by 5.7 per cent, driven by strong performance across major economic sectors and solid domestic demand.

Bursa Malaysia traded higher throughout the week just ended before reversing to end the week lower on profit-taking, following the mixed sentiment of most regional markets.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI garnered 26.20 points to 1,712.74 from last week’s 1,686.54.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index surged 180.52 points to 12,645.03, the FBMT 100 Index jumped 184.47 points to 12,436.72, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 54.91 points to 12,302.82, the FBM 70 Index garnered 236.37 points to 17,685.61, while the FBM ACE Index fell by 28.06 points to 4,973.43.

By sector, the Financial Services Index expanded by 682.86 points to 20,725.81, the Plantation Index slipped 123.48 points to 8,367.10, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.74 points to 175.07, while the Energy Index gained 2.83 points to 784.05.

Weekly turnover improved to 15.97 billion units worth RM15.88 billion from 13.54 billion units worth RM13.50 billion a week earlier.

The Main Market volume went up to 8.37 billion units worth RM14.24 billion, versus 7.41 billion units worth RM11.96 billion previously.

Warrants turnover rose to 5.01 billion units valued at RM697.01 million from 3.98 billion units valued at RM520.40 million a week ago.

The ACE Market volume rose to 2.58 billion units valued at RM932.35 million from 2.15 billion units valued at RM1.02 billion last week. — Bernama