Bursa Malaysia likely to see range-bound trading

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia will likely see range-bound trading next week with a downside bias, driven by global geopolitcal uncertainties and hindered trade amid hiccups in US President Donald Trump's administration, dealers said.
FXTM Research Analyst, Lukman Otunuga, said with reports the US was seeking to impose tariffs on Chinese imports likely to weigh heavily on sentiment, Wall Street remained vulnerable to further losses.
Meanwhile, PublicInvest Research also said the downbeat finish on Wall Street the past week had also followed unconfirmed reports that US Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, had issued a subpoena for documents related to the Trump Organisation.
Kenanga Research, in a note, said the outlook for the index remained seemingly weak in the short term as key indicators continued to be indecisive, coupled with tepid trading volumes.
The research firm said key support would be at 1,840-level and a lower support at 1,800-level.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI was 2.47 points better at 1,846.39 from 1,843.92 previously.
The FBM Emas Index rose 64.7 points to 13,033.64, FBMT100 Index increased by 70.88 points to 12,782.07 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index surged by 97.66 points to 13,220.17.
The FBM 70 improved 270.22 points to 15,693.49. The FBM Ace decreased 46.85 points to 5,925.01.
On a sectoral basis, the Industrial Index was up 88.87 points to 3,270.73 and the Finance Index advanced 45.44 points to 18,038.18. The Plantation Index declined 87.66 points to 8,044.16.
Weekly turnover fell to 12.44 billion units worth RM13.19 billion from 12.94 billion units worth RM12.43 billion.
Main market volume rose to 8.12 billion shares valued at RM12.49 billion from 7.77 billion shares valued at RM11.62 billion.
Warrant turnover decreased to 1.88 billion units worth RM274.1 million from 2.35 billion units worth RM354.6 million.
The ACE market fell to 2.40 billion shares valued at RM419.23 million from 2.80 billion shares valued at RM435.93 million.
Gold futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is likely to see cautious trading next week, with prices staying at the current levels.
Phillip Futures Sdn Bhd Dealer, Tan Sek Wei, said demand for the precious metal would be influenced by the US Commodity Exchange's gold market's performance, which was closely linked to the US dollar's movements and developments in the US.
"The gold price is likely to remain range-bound ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting which will be held on March 21," he told Bernama.
It was reported that the US Federal Reserve would raise interest rates at its meeting.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, March 2018 rose four ticks to RM166.80 a gramme, but April 2018, May 2018, June 2018 declined two ticks each to RM167.05, RM167.80 and RM167.80, respectively.
Weekly turnover fell to 23 lots worth RM349,310 from last week's 15 lots valued at RM249,000, while open interest widened to 79 contracts from 70 contracts previously. — Bernama