KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia are likely to trade lower next week given the mixed asset classes performance and as traders remain cautious ahead of many possible headline risks, analysts said.
The key bearish factors included a lack of local catalysts, an absence of global monetary stimulus as well as rising political uncertainties in France, Greece and the Netherlands.
Spain was also slipping into recession, with weak manufacturing and job data coming from the US, alongside continuing speculation on when Malaysia’s 13th general election would be held, an analyst said.
Affin Investment Bank head of Retail Research, Dr Nazri Khan said traders would continue to take cue from the weak global stock’s performance.
Some data which could set the tone for next week are Germany’s Industrial Production and Factory Order, US Oil Inventories and Trade Balance, the UK’s Interest Rate Statement and Japan’s Current Account.
Technically, Nazri said the downside penetration of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) to close below the psychological support of 1,600, would open up possibilities towards the April and March support low of near 1,565 and 1,560.
“We expect immediate hurdles at the 1,590 and 1,600 levels, as the resistance for the local benchmark,” he added.
He said traders should accumulate defensive stocks such as telcos, healthcare and consumer stocks, including TM, Maxis, KPJ, Aeon, Bonia and Old Town.
For the week just ended, the market saw a technical rebound, but the breadth did not improve with weekly losers still edging gainers on moderate average daily trade totalling 1.4 billion shares worth RM1.5 billion.
The market was closed on Tuesday for the Labour Day celebration. On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI jumped 23.24 points to 1,591.04 from 1,567.8 last Friday, with Ariantec Global becoming the most active stock.
The Finance Index rose 221.02 points to 14,206.08 from 13,985.06 previously but the Industrial Index eased 1.72 points to 2,823.15 from 2,824.87.
The Plantation Index increased 61.18 points to 8,708.96 from 8,647.78 last Friday, while the FBM Emas Index advanced 157.41 points to 10,920.22 from 10,762.81 and the FBM Ace Index was 40.11 points higher at 4,575.44 from 4,535.33.
The FBM Mid 70 Index rose 171.87 points to 12,046.91 from 11,875.04 while the FBMT100 Index increased 155.90 points to 10,721.42 from 10,565.52 last Friday.
Total weekly volume decreased to 4.904 billion shares worth RM5.62 billion from the 7.309 billion shares valued at RM7.520 billion last week.
Main Market turnover dwindled to 3.007 billion shares worth RM5.318 billion from the 4.006 billion shares valued at RM6.87 billion previously.
Volume on the ACE market fell to 1.06 billion shares valued at RM191.5 million from the 2.743 billion shares worth RM511.128 million, and warrants improved to 824.428 million shares valued at RM101.294 million from 493.851 million units worth RM107.724 million previously. — Bernama