Profit-taking activities likely this week

BURSA Malaysia is still within the uptrend channel but after the steep rally over the past few trading days, stocks on the local front may take a breather this week, said Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB).

Any pullback on the benchmark FBM KLCI will be deemed as healthy for short-term accumulation decision.

“Stocks on the local front may take a breather over the near term as the FBM KLCI is slightly overbought. Also, tracking the negative performance on the overnight Wall Street, we think profit-taking activities may emerge on selected heavyweights,” it said in a note.

Nevertheless, it said traders may turn to small caps and lower liner laggards with oversold signal for short-term rebound trading opportunities.

Meanwhile, AllianceDBS Research said Malaysian equities remain attractive.

“After underperforming regional markets in 2017, the FBM KLCI is trading inexpensively near its mean price earnings of 15.0 times. With earnings recovery gaining traction, preference for equity over fixed income investment in rising interest rate environment and recovering foreign flow, we see better days ahead for Malaysian equities in 2018,” it said.

On a Friday-to-Friday comparison, the FBM KLCI gained 31.82 points to 1,753.07 from 1,721.25, with the market being mostly influenced by the US Dow Jones Industrial Average index that continuously scaled new highs in a four-day rally.

The FBM Emas Index surged 243.44 points to 12,588.84, the FBMT 100 Index increased 187.39 points to 12,256.85, the FBM Emas ./ 0 ./ Shariah Index trimmed 29.42 points to 12,890.73, the FBM 70 bagged 20.23 points to 15,460.71, and the FBM Ace added 116.79 points to 6,428.42.

On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index soared 597.47 points to 16,586.51, the Plantation Index shed 45.97 points to 7,810.11, while the Industrial Index advanced 30.85 points to 3,180.16.

Total turnover jumped to 11.07 billion units worth RM13.65bil from 8.86 billion units worth RM12.05bil.

Main Market volume improved to 7.09 billion shares worth RM12.96bil from to 6.05 billion shares worth RM11.60bil. Warrants turnover was lower at 974.17 million units worth RM126.08mil against last week’s 982.47 million units worth RM134.08mil.

The ACE Market expanded to 2.95 billion shares worth RM546.69mil from 1.80 billion shares worth RM822.99mil transacted previously. — Bernama KUALA LUMPUR

The three-month Kuala Lumpur Interbank Offered Rate (KLIBOR) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to remain quiet this week on lack of market catalysts.

For the week just ended, the market was untraded with open interest remaining at 2186 5 +76 668 6