KLCI Futures Seen Trading With Upward Bias Next Week

By Engku Shariful Azni Engku Ab Latif

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) futures are expected to trade with an upward bias next week in line with the cash market, an analyst said.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the market is expected to remain constructive, although investors are likely to become increasingly selective.

“We expect the (FBM KLCI’s) 1,740 level, US Treasury yields, Brent crude prices and foreign fund flows to remain key factors in determining the sustainability of the market’s next leg higher,” he told Bernama.

Mohd Sedek said the direction of global bond yields would remain an important factor, particularly for Malaysian banks, as higher yields could weigh on banking valuations while putting pressure on funding costs and net interest margins (NIM).

“A sustained recovery in Malaysian banking stocks is likely to require greater stability in global bond yields, supported by resilient domestic earnings and improving investor flows,” he said.

For the week just ended, the FBM KLCI futures ended mostly higher.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the August 2026 contract added 15.5 points to 1,741.5, September 2026 gained 15 points to 1,720, and December 2026 and March 2027 increased 13.5 points each to 1,720 and 1,702.5, respectively.

Weekly turnover grew to 41,237 lots from 30,907 lots in the previous week, while open interest rose to 48,670 contracts from 41,862 contracts at the end of last week.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI went up 9.09 points to 1,736.48 from 1,727.39 a week earlier.

-- BERNAMA