Malaysian Stock Market Likely To Trade Favorably Next Week

By Azlee Nor Mahmud KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 (Bernama) – The Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia) is likely to trade favourably next week, boosted by the just announced 2019 Budget coupled with developments in the United States, said Bank Islam Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid. He said the recent tweet by US President Donald Trump, although still highly uncertain, suggested that trade tension could take a breather. “While the non-farm payroll data should indicate a strong labour market in the US, the economy was poised for a gradual hike in policy rates,” he told Bernama, Saturday. As for Malaysia’s 2019 Budget unveiled by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on Friday, Mohd Afzanizam said there was clarity in the policies announced by the government. “Although the budget deficits are likely to be higher in 2018 and 2019, it was primarily driven by one-off item such as tax refund totalling RM37 billion (US$1 = RM4.16),” he said, adding that this would be mitigated by a special dividend from Petronas which appeared to be the main balancing fact as the government was committed to an inclusive growth strategy. Mohd Afzanizam also said there were new taxes such the digital tax that would help the revenue stream and allow for more level playing field between international and local players in the media industry. He opined that Malaysia would see higher trajectory for development expenditure to more than RM50 billion in 2018 and 2019 and this should be positive for the construction sector. In a nutshell, Mohd Afzanizam said there were positive vibes from the local front which has been quite uncertain in the past few months. Technically, the current resistance level is around 1,745 points. “Perhaps the FBM KLCI is poised towards this level as values have obviously emerged following the sell-off during October. The US mid-term election on Nov 6 and the G20 meeting slated this month could be the potential disruptor to the bourse's momentum in the immediate term,” he said. On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the benchmark FBM KLCI settled 6.95 points higher at 1,713.87. The FBM Emas Index gained 112.87 points to 11,857.65, the FBMT100 Index increased 103.38 points to 11,696.61 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 55.9 points to 11,890.22. The FBM 70 rose 38.45 points to 13,735.7 while the FBM Ace was 79.41 points higher at 5,020.55. On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index increased 291.46 points to 17,274.00, the Plantation Index was 37.15 points better at 7,389.82 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.01 points to 173.12. Comparing Friday-to-Friday, weekly turnover increased to 9.63 billion units, valued at RM8.15 billion, against 7.96 billion units, worth RM8.02 billion. Main Market volume improved to 6.34 billion shares, worth RM7.47 billion, versus 5.54 billion shares valued at RM7.52 billion. Warrants turnover rose to 1.72 billion units, valued at RM414.93 million, from 1.27 billion units, worth at RM262.7 million. The ACE Market volume rose to 1.55 billion shares, worth RM259.77 million, from 1.14 billion shares valued at RM241.96 million, transacted last week. -- BERNAMA