KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is expected to continue its cautious trading this week, despite the recent uptrend, as investors are wary of persistent global inflation, economic growth outlook and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

       Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng expects the benchmark index to trend sideways, within the 1,540-1,555 range, this week.

       “On a technical perspective, we shall see immediate support at 1,540 while resistance at 1,560 points,” he told Bernama.

       The FBM KLCI closed higher on Friday after a roller-coaster trading session.

       The benchmark index added 0.36% or 5.61 points to end at 1,546.76. Market breadth was negative with 535 losers against 400 gainers.

       Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng expects the benchmark index to trend sideways, within the 1,540-1,555 range, this week.

       “Key regional markets also ended (the week) in positive territory following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with buying interests mainly on technology and energy stocks.

       “Investors also continued to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following recent weakness,” he added.

       For the week just ended, the local bourse was mixed amid steady performance in regional markets and a cautious sentiment on Wall Street.

       On a weekly basis, the FBM KLCI slipped 2.36 points to end the week at 1,546.76 from 1,549.12 in the previous week.

       On the index board, the FBMT100 Index declined 27.39 points to 10,707.68, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 137.38 points to 11,389.89, the FBM Emas Index decreased 60.25 points to 11,011.12, the FBM ACE dropped 196.38 points to 5,146.70, and the FBM 70 reduced 78.46 points to 13,098.56.

       Sector-wise, the Plantation Index lost 248.08 points to 8,009.72, the Industrial Products and Services Index went up 0.04 of-a-point to 199.41, and the Energy Index narrowed 38.26 points to 813.90.

       The Financial Services Index gained 82.71 points to 16,644.41, the Healthcare Index shed 28.46 points to 1,927.12, and the Technology Index inched down 0.17 of-a-point to 66.45.

       Weekly turnover increased to 15.03 billion units valued at RM9.77bil against 14.33 billion units valued at RM9.26bil the previous week.