KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed mixed as the key index staged an eleventh hour rebound bucking the broader market and regional sell-off.
Regional markets were impacted by negative cues from Wall Street overnight as hawkish signals from the US Federal Reserve, especially ahead of key payrolls data, fuelled market jitters over U.S. interest rate cuts.
At 5 pm, the FBM KLCI rose 2.01 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 1,555.25 from Thursday's close of 1,553.24.
The benchmark index opened 2.17 points lower at 1,551.07 and fluctuated between 1,547.96 and 1,555.97 throughout the day.
On the broader market,losers outpaced gainers 563 to 482, with 493 counters unchanged, 782 untraded and nine others suspended.
Turnover rose to 4.04 billion units worth RM2.68 billion compared with 3.36 billion units worth at RM2.68 billion on Thursday.
Tradeview Capital fund manager Neoh Jia Man attributes the market performance to bottom-fishing activities focusing on KLCI index components that had previously lagged.
"While we anticipate that the undervalued nature of our local market will offer ongoing support, we think that near-term headwinds from foreign capital outflows due to "higher-for-longer" U.S. rates might constrain upside potential," he told Business Times.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the local market trended in a tight range as investors are cautious with the negative performance across the region. Additionally, investor sentiment took a hit over worsening geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.
"As for the local bourse, we are cautiously optimistic given the improving sentiment on local equities, nonetheless global volatility will also play a major role in the direction of the market. "We expect the benchmark index to remain its sideways pattern with an upside bias for next week, nonetheless the longer outlook remains positive. "We uphold our view that if the benchmark index were to breach the 1,557 resistance and sustain it over an extended period, there will be further upside potential," said Thong.
He anticipates that this bullish momentum will drive the price towards the next resistance level of 1,570 once the bulls regain strength.
Conversely, immediate support levels are now at 1,537, followed by 1,520.
"As such, we anticipate the index will hover within the 1,537–1,570 range for next week," he added.-ends-