BARGAIN HUNTING EXPECTED TO DRIVE BURSA MALAYSIA NEXT WEEK

By Anas Abu Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia is expected to see increased trading activity, driven by improved sentiment in regional and global markets as investors gear up for post-festive bargain hunting, said an analyst.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng highlighted that the local bourse saw thin trading during the holiday-shortened week just ended, and is likely to pick up pace in the upcoming week.

"The benchmark index remains near oversold territory despite Friday’s gain; hence, we expect bargain hunting to emerge next week.

"Valuations are undemanding, with a price-to-earnings ratio below 14 times compared to its five-year average of about 17 times," he told Bernama, adding that the key index is anticipated to trend within the 1,550 and 1,580 range next week.

For the week just ended, the FBM KLCI trended mostly lower, weighed by the softer performance on Wall Street following the emergence of China's DeepSeek artificial intelligence (AI) model, which has impacted the technology sector, coupled with cautious sentiment during the festive season. 

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI slipped by 16.81 points to 1,556,92 compared to 1,573.73 a week earlier.

The FBM Emas Index dropped 151.88 points to 11,883.71, the FBMT 100 Index shrank 149.62 points to 11,575.90, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 177.74 points to 11,737.14.

The FBM ACE Index slid 15.46 points to 5,195.07 while the FBM 70 Index declined 319.33 points to 17,587.02.

By sector, the Financial Services Index dipped 42.13 points to 18,854.36, the Plantation Index went down 73.85 points to 7,345.60, and the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 3.32 points to 165.37.

Similarly, the Energy Index slipped 14.74 points to 823.32, the Healthcare Index sank 20.96 points to 2,162.21, and the Technology Index eased 1.93 points to 58.17.

Turnover tumbled to 6.42 billion units worth RM6.30 billion from 15.58 billion units worth RM13.10 billion this week in the preceding week.  

The Main Market volume dwindled to 3.34 billion units valued at RM5.67 billion against 6.76 billion units valued at RM10.97 billion previously.  

Warrants turnover dropped to 2.00 billion units worth RM177.39 million compared to 5.18 billion units worth RM531.09 million last week.  

The ACE Market volume trimmed to 1.07 billion units worth RM454.31 million from 3.62 billion units valued at RM1.59 billion previously.

-- BERNAMA