Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia is anticipated to engage in selective bargain-hunting in the coming week, despite the absence of oversold technical conditions, following three consecutive sessions of mild decline.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Mohd Sedek Jantan, director of investment strategy and country economist at IPPFA Sdn Bhd, indicated that trading activity is likely to remain measured as markets keep an eye on political developments in the region, particularly the elections in Japan and Thailand.
Mohd Sedek noted that Japan's election outcome holds significant regional relevance, as it will influence fiscal direction and security policy in Asia's second-largest economy amidst sluggish growth and elevated public debt. This could have potential implications for regional risk premia and currency markets. In contrast, the elections in Thailand are expected to have limited spillover effects on the broader region and minimal direct impact on Malaysia.
Meanwhile, global sentiment in the upcoming week will continue to be shaped by the United States' corporate earnings season. Mohd Sedek expects volatility to decrease from this week's elevated levels, with a shift in earnings focus towards consumer and healthcare sectors, which may provide a more stable indication of underlying demand conditions compared to recent tech-driven repricing.
On the macroeconomic front, Malaysia faces a data-intensive week, beginning with the release of the Industrial Production and Manufacturing Statistics on Monday, followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade data on Tuesday, labor market indicators on Wednesday, and the gross domestic product data for the fourth quarter of 2025 on Friday. Globally, the US retail sales data is due on Tuesday, while China is scheduled to release its January Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index figures on Wednesday. Mohd Sedek anticipates China's CPI inflation to moderate to 0.5 percent year-on-year, slightly below December's 0.8 percent, reinforcing the narrative of subdued domestic demand.
On a week-to-week basis, the FBM KLCI experienced a decline of 8.05 points to 1,732.83 from 1,740.88 a week earlier. The FBM Top 100 Index decreased by 91.03 points to 12,470.99, and the FBM Emas Index fell by 106.30 points to 12,639.69. The FBM Mid 70 Index dropped 275.46 points to 17,234.12, the FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 169.83 points to 12,105.49, and the FBM ACE Index erased 92.21 points to 4,630.79.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 33.24 points to 21,476.94, the Energy Index lost 19.92 points to 739.01, the Plantation Index eased 40.93 points to 8,323.63, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 2.09 points to 173.47. Weekly turnover weakened to 12.75 billion units worth RM12.97 billion from 16.53 billion units worth RM20.33 billion a week ago. The Main Market volume decreased to 7.22 billion units worth RM11.84 billion compared to 9.76 billion units worth RM18.75 billion previously. Warrants turnover slipped to 3.60 billion units valued at RM430.75 million from 4.43 billion units valued at RM602.53 million last week. Meanwhile, the ACE Market volume narrowed to 1.92 billion units valued at RM680.70 million from 2.34 billion units valued at RM955.46 million in the previous week.