KUALA LUMPUR (April 10): The benchmark FBM KLCI is expected to trade higher next week, building on the stronger performance in the equities market, after bouncing off the critical level last week, said an analyst.

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd senior chartist Nik Ihsan Raja Abdullah said the local bourse could possibly see some minor consolidation due to profit-taking in property names after the recent rally, while banking stocks are expected to remain in a range-bound mode.

“However, buying interest could expand further in healthcare names with the technology sector set to make a comeback after underperforming its peers for the past two weeks.

“We opined the FBM KLCI to range between 1,600 and 1,650 points next week, taking into account some bullish signals. Immediate resistance is at 1,620 and 1,650 points, while key support remained at 1,575 and 1,560 points,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim expects the market to remain cautious with current developments regarding the new wave of Covid-19 outbreak in Europe and some parts of Asia.

“It could provide a boost via glove counters for our local bourse but at the same time the trajectory towards a global economic recovery could be disrupted,” he added.

For the week just ended, the local bourse was traded lower for the first two days, on profit-taking in heavyweight stocks despite a more positive cue from Wall Street, which hit record highs on positive economic data.

Bursa Malaysia rebounded for the next three days of the week to end the week on a firm note on bargain-hunting, surpassing the 1,600-point psychological level. Among the counters are glove counters, plantation stocks as well as telcos amid various development in the local and international market.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the benchmark FBM KLCI rose 26.9 points to 1,612.25 from last Friday’s 1,585.35. 

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index surged 155.82 points to 11,898.92, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 153.20 points to 11,546.56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index soared 275.31 points to 13,281.16, the FBM 70 firmed up 57.65 points to 15,786.97, and the FBM ACE Index jumped 206.42 points to 9,995.54.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 62.73 points to 15,213.83, the Energy Index declined 17.02 points to 920.1, the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 0.46 of-a-point to 193.56 and the Plantation Index fell 61.91 points to 6,983.63.

The Technology Index edged up 0.30 of-a-point to 87.65, the Healthcare Index rose 111.65 points to 3,049.35 and the Telecommunication and Media index added 26.91 points to 747.72. 

Turnover decreased to 34.59 billion units worth RM18.68 billion from 35.38 billion units worth RM18.02 billion in the previous week.

Main Market volume slipped to 19.89 billion shares worth RM15.34 billion from 23.28 billion shares worth RM14.77 billion last week.

Warrants volume declined to 1.74 million units worth RM231.26 million from 3.51 billion units worth RM374.24 million. 

The ACE Market volume rose to 12.94 billion shares worth RM3.11 billion from 10.75 billion shares worth RM3.03 billion the week earlier.