KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is expected to trade range-bound this week as investor sentiment is likely to remain cautious due to market volatility with the key index moving in a tight range, an analyst said.

       Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia FBM KLCI is anticipated to hover within the 1,515-1,530 range, with immediate resistance at 1,530 and support at 1,500.

       “With the market volatility heightened again, we believe regional and local markets will be similarly affected and investors’ sentiment to remain jittery although bargain hunting may prevail,” he told Bernama.

       In a note, CGS-CIMB Research said investors will be focusing on the release of Malaysia’s fourth-quarter 2021 gross domestic product data this week.

       “Investors will be watching the potential impact of the floods, higher electricity tariffs, implementation of ceiling prices on certain goods, rising operating costs and ‘cukai makmur’ (prosperity tax) on corporate earnings,” it said.

       For the week just ended, Bursa Malaysia trended mostly mixed amid heightened market volatility in the region, while tracking the movement on Wall Street.

       The market was traded for half a day last Monday on the eve of the Chinese New Year and was closed for two days last Tuesday and last Wednesday for the Chinese New Year celebrations.

       On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI gained 2.74 points to end the week at 1,522.76 from 1,520.02 last week.

       On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was up 58.53 points to 10,959.57, the FBMT100 Index added 35.77 points to 10,642.93, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 86.22 points to 11,666.81. The FBM 70 expanded 118.04 points to 13,479.25, and the FBM ACE rose 126.71 points to 6,185.74.

       Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 6.05 points to 15,785.69, the Plantation Index eased 106.25 points to 6,543.86, and the Energy Index improved 48.75 points to 789.94.

       The Industrial Products and Services Index gained 2.89 points to 203.3, the Technology Index inched up 1.11 points to 81.49, and the Healthcare Index firmed 39.28 points to 2,162.46.

       Weekly turnover decreased to 5.70 billion units worth RM4.36bil from 12.23 billion units worth RM9.18bil in the previous week.

       The Main Market volume slipped to 3.80 billion shares valued at RM3.78bil from 7.37 billion shares worth RM7.82bil.Warrants volume contracted to 589.12 million units worth RM200.11mil from 1.17 billion units worth RM125.24mil previously.

       The ACE Market volume decreased to 1.31 billion shares worth RM521.37mil from 3.28 billion shares worth RM1.18bil in the previous week.