KL shares set to continue uptrend

WEALTH CREATION

The uptrend on Bursa Malaysia are expected to continue next week on anticipation of a similar movement on Wall Street.

This was because the US stock index futures gained slightly yesterday on better-than-expected employment figures, said dealers. The US cash market was closed yesterday for Good Friday.

A local analyst said that pending fresh leads locally, the market was expected to ride on positive sentiments from overseas markets.

"The market is likely to maintain at the current level next week but at some stage, I think the market would be in for correction soon," he said.

He said although the newly announced first stage of the New Economic Model (NEM) did move the market for a while, its real impact would be felt only in the second half of the year, after the second stage was revealed.

"The government is now collecting feedback from the public on the first stage of NEM. The major impact on the market would only come in the second half of the year," he said.

NEM was announced on Tuesday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on the first day of the Invest Malaysia forum, and it included some market moving news such as further equity divestment in government-linked companies by Khazanah Nasional.

Besides that, Najib also mentioned the development of government land in the city centre as well as a new development in Sungai Buluh which moved some construction counters.

On a weekly basis, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) advanced 20.8 points to 1,335.94.

The Finance Index gained 241.35 points to 11,980.28, the Plantation Index increased 90.18 points to 6,501.06 and the Industrial Index rose 68.98 points to 2,733.91.

The FBM Emas Index jumped 150.61 points to 9,062.12, the FBM70 Index surged 228.46 points to 9,064.49 and the FBM Ace Index added 41.82 points to 4,254.32.

Turnover for the week dropped to 4.782 billion shares worth RM6.899 billion from last week''s 5.214 billion shares worth RM7.983 billion.

Volume on the Main Market also decreased to 3.839 billion units valued at RM6.599 billion from 4.432 billion units valued at RM7.777 billion.

However, the ACE market volume rose to 428.88 million shares worth RM81.61 million from 370.626 million shares worth RM54.73 million.

Call warrants increased to 388.592 million units valued at RM86.632 million from 296.865 million units valued at RM59.715 million. -- Bernama