KUALA LUMPUR – The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) is expected to move in an uptrend next week as regional markets rally on bets of peak US interest rates and strong earnings.

Inter-Pacific Asset Management Bhd chief economist and fund manager Datuk Dr Nazri Khan said the positivity should also permeate to stocks on the FBM KLCI and extend its near-term upsides, albeit the recovery may still be measured due to the continuing cautiousness over Malaysia’s economic and corporate earnings outlook.

“Going forward, we expect the local bourse to be in rally mode towards the 1,460 level, aided by bullish year-end seasonalities, a pause of interest rates, strong economic data, positive earnings news, small-cap play and short covering activity,” he told Bernama.

Technically, he said the immediate hurdle is the 1,450 level, which should be cleared easily, and then followed by the 1,480 level and the psychological 1,500 level.

Meanwhile, Nazri Khan said that with the US Federal Reserve (Fed) leaving interest rates unchanged, this could provide some reprieve for stocks on Bursa Malaysia and the ringgit’s performance.

“This should also help the key index to post a near-term revival and to regain the make-or-break line of 1,450 points.

“A stay above this level would suggest that the uptrend on the FBM KLCI will be preserved. Otherwise, the key index will be in a state of flux again,” said Nazri Khan.

On Friday, Malaysian stocks rebounded with strong trading volumes, in line with the gains among regional indices as they reacted positively to the Fed’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged.

Nazri Khan said that BNM’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged also bolstered sentiments, and there was fresh buying from foreign funds that helped the key index to retest the 1,450 level, albeit the gains were relatively mild.

He said the lower liners also posted gains as the improved sentiments resulted in market breadth turning positive.

“We see active lower liners and broader market shares making further headway, such as Econpile, Salcon, Kanger and Mestron.

“This should encourage increased trading activities as more market participants are likely to take up risks on market positions, taking advantage of the improved sentiments,” he added.

Yesterday, BNM announced it would maintain the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 3.0 per cent after its last Monetary Policy Committee meeting for the year.

This marked the third consecutive session where the MPC has opted to pause the OPR at the same level, despite calls from some quarters for the central bank to raise the key interest rate to help stabilise the ringgit, which is near a 25-year low against the US dollar.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI gained 8.03 points to end the week at 1,449.93 versus 1,441.90 a week earlier.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 64.94 points to 10,698.94, the FBMT 100 Index was 61.40 points higher at 10,368.41, the FBM 70 Index jumped 100.82 points to 14,098.53, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 60.67 points to 10,906.79 and the FBM ACE Index increased 60.72 points to 5,098.99.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased 65.51 points to 16,298.88, and the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 1.02 points to 171.71.

However, the Plantation Index was 64.40 points higher at 6,953.25, but the Energy Index lost 10.54 points to 864.04.

Weekly turnover increased to 15.58 billion units valued at RM9.12 billion versus 15.10 billion units worth RM9.40 billion in the preceding week.

The Main Market’s volume narrowed to 9.26 billion shares worth RM7.73 billion against 9.57 billion shares valued at RM8.04 billion in the previous week.

Warrant turnover increased to 2.07 billion units valued at RM315.87 million from 1.64 billion units worth RM214.44 million last week.

The ACE Market’s volume improved to 4.20 billion shares worth RM1.07 billion from 3.82 billion shares worth RM1.13 billion previously. – BERNAMA / pic TMR FILE