BURSA Malaysia will likely maintain a tight range trading next week, lingering around its immediate support level of 1,345 as market participants continue monitoring the new confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country as well as the global market performance.
The number of new cases appeared to be stabilising in Malaysia and the government yesterday announced the extension of the Movement Control Order (MCO) until April 28.
As of yesterday, Malaysia had recorded 4,346 confirmed cases, 1,830 recovered cases and 70 deaths.
“We believe this MCO extension is the right step to really ensure that the country would be able to break the chain of infection,” Bank Islam chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid told Bernama.
Furthermore, he said, the decision to allow some sectors of the economy to be operational should help mitigate the output loss to the economy, thereby reducing the risks of further economic contraction.
Based on a Friday-to-Friday comparison, the FBM KLCI index has recovered, adding almost 30 points to 1,357.50 and hence prompting profit-taking among investors.
“Investors are in the mood to take profit while remaining cautious moving forward, and this is despite the supply cut commitment by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies,” Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee opined.
He said the 10 million barrel per day production cut does not make make any drastic changes to the price as the demand for crude oil has collapsed since countries began restricting passengers from travelling.
Moving forward, he sees crude oil to be traded between US$25 and US$30 per barrel.
Over the past week, Bursa Malaysia also traded in a range-bound mode, mainly influenced by the overnight Wall Street performance, Covid-19 news, crude oil prices, Fitch Ratings’ revised outlook on Malaysia from “stable” to “negative” and the government’s latest stimulus package worth RM10 bil.
The package was aimed at small and medium enterprises to soften the impact of the MCO due to the Covid-19 pandemic .
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) improved 26.85 points to 1,357.50 from 1,330.65 in the previous week.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index advanced 216.67 points to 9,392.05, the FBMT 100 Index increased 200.01 points to 9,288.66 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 301.67 points to 10,363.11.
The FBM 70 lifted 304.69 points to 11,014.75 and the FBM ACE Index increased 199.72 points to 4,017.03.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 4.26 points to 109.50 and the Plantation Index was 108.01 points firmer at 6,247.65.
Weekly turnover expanded to 26.39 billion units worth RM12.56 bil from 21.58 billion units worth RM12.43 bil recorded last Friday.
Main Market volume widened to 19.51 billion shares valued at RM11.43 bil versus 17.03 billion shares valued at RM11.32 bil.
Warrants turnover was slightly higher at 1.77 billion units worth RM370.16 mil from 1.61 billion units worth RM443.65 mil
The ACE Market volume surged to 5.01 billion shares valued at RM760.68 mil compared with 2.94 billion shares valued at RM563.58 mil. – April 11, 2020
