KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 ― Bursa Malaysia is likely to continue trading in cautious mode next week as market sentiment will be influenced by the ongoing negotiations in the US-China trade deal.

MIDF Research head of research Mohd Redza Abdul Rahman said the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) would also be affected by the domestic economic and political events which are scheduled to be held in this month.

“Trading volume will likely decline as the holiday season beckons, but will likely stay above 2.0 billion shares daily, however, sentiment will likely be influenced by the outcome of the two mammoth political events organised respectively by UMNO and PKR.

“We have seen the outcome of the FBM KLCI rebalancing but with no change to the constituents of the index...we only expect much impact on the (trading) volume as was seen during the recent MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) rebalancing on Nov 26,” he told Bernama.

Advertisement

He expected the benchmark FBM KLCI to move on a rather flattish trend in the next few weeks, with probably some window dressing activities in the last week of the month.

For the week, Mohd Redza said the local market was spooked after US President Donald Trump indicated that he is in no rush to sign the trade deal with China, and might even sign it in the run-up to his re-election campaign.

“And he has since ruffled feathers with other nations as well which has resulted in further fears amongst the investors.

Advertisement

“Thankfully for the index, the recovery in Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s share price (TNB: top loser last week) as well as continuation of positive vibes for the plantation stocks have led to gains in the index. Out of the 30 index stocks, 16 counters were green while 14 were in the red,” he added.

He said that the plantation stocks rose on the back on the rise in crude palm oil price as the spot price rose to above RM2,700 per tonne, higher than RM2,500-RM2,600 per tonne range seen over the past three weeks.

For the week just-ended, another dealer said Asian stock markets continued their upward momentum for most of the week, tracking the positive sentiment on the global equity markets, driven by optimism on the US-China trade deal.

Trump’s latest comment for the week that the trade talks with China are “moving right along” had lifted sentiment with investors remaining optimistic on the prospects for a US-China trade deal despite a looming deadline for the imposition of fresh import tariffs by the US.

However, he said the market would remain uncertain until December 15, when the US is scheduled to implement a new round of tariffs on about US$156 billion (RM648 billion) of Chinese imports.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI rose 6.50 points to 1,568.44 from 1,561.74 previously.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index increased 40.72  points to 11,133.57, FBMT 100 Index advanced 30.40 points to 10,939.70, FBM Emas Shariah Index surged 131.47 points to 11,723.97, FBM 70 decreased 28.80 points to 13,849.08 and the FBM Ace Index jumped 130.03 points to 4,884.33.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index contracted 109.41 points to 15,222.21 and the Industrial Products and Services Index earned 0.11 of-a-point to 150.02, while the Plantation Index was 294.04 points higher at 7,361.31.

Weekly turnover decreased to 11.39 billion units worth RM8.09 billion from 13.17 billion units worth RM11.20 billion last week.

Main Market volume eased to 7.45 billion units worth RM7.09 billion from 8.39 billion units worth RM10.05 billion.

Warrants turnover slid to 1.27 billion units worth RM249.43 million versus 1.63 billion units worth RM316.22 million previously.

The ACE Market volume declined to 2.63 billion units worth RM748.41 million from 3.15 billion units worth RM832.85 million. ― Bernama