KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 — Bursa Malaysia is expected to trade range-bound with a neutral bias as investors assess geopolitical developments and key economic data releases from major economies.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said that while downside risks remain, the local market appears relatively well supported at current levels.
“Overall, we anticipate the benchmark index to move within the 1,670–1,700 range next week,” he told Bernama.
Sharing a similar sentiment, Berjaya Research Sdn Bhd head of research Kenneth Leong said attention will turn to the United States Federal Reserve’s (Fed) first policy meeting under Kevin Warsh in the coming week.
“The expectation is that the central bank will keep interest rates unchanged. Investors will also be closely watching for updates to the Fed’s economic projections, as well as its comments on inflation and labour market conditions, as these could shape expectations regarding the timing and pace of future policy adjustments and influence global risk sentiment,” he said.
Technically, the key index has gapped up but continues to move within the consolidation range, Leong added.
“A decisive breakthrough above the 1,687 points could lift the key index towards the immediate resistance located at 1,693, followed by the 1,700 psychological level. On the flipside, near-term support is pegged at 1,672, followed by 1,665 points,” he said.
For the week just ended, Bursa Malaysia traded in a cautious mode, in line with weaker global market sentiment as investors grappled with renewed geopolitical tensions in West Asia and heavy selling in technology stocks.
The sharp correction in US semiconductor and AI-related stocks influenced the Asian market, of which, the South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index was halted on Monday after plunging more than eight per cent.
However, later in the week, buying support in selected blue-chip counters trading at attractive valuations lifted Bursa Malaysia despite cautious market sentiment, driven by developments in West Asia, volatility in crude oil prices and uncertainty over the global interest rate outlook.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the key index fell 9.80 points to 1,683.63 from 1,693.43 a week earlier.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell by 127.44 points to 12,474.62, the FBMT 100 Index slid 125.96 points to 12,315.94, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 147.85 points to 12,422.30, while the FBM Mid 70 Index tumbled 415.46 points to 17,884.14, and the FBM ACE Index dipped 64.57 points to 4,668.67.24.
By sector, the Plantation Index jumped 80.54 points to 8,752.08, the Energy Index declined 20.83 points to 775.37, the Financial Services Index decreased 139.95 points to 19,644.36, and the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 1.81 points to 196.93.
Weekly turnover increased to 17.32 billion units valued at RM13.74 billion from 10.73 billion units valued at RM11.32 billion a week earlier.
The Main Market volume swelled to 9.48 billion units valued at RM12.06 billion from 6.10 billion units valued at RM10.31 billion previously.
Warrants turnover expanded to 5.28 billion units valued at RM815.97 million compared with 2.97 billion units valued at RM406.42 million last week.
The ACE Market volume surged to 7.46 billion units valued at RM854.07 million from 1.65 billion units valued at RM600.11 million in the previous week.
