Further downtrend on Bursa expected

The Malaysian stock market is expected to continue its downtrend in the coming four-day week as the reporting season comes to a close without any major surprises.


The stock market is closed today because of the public holiday marking the Islamic calendar's New Year's day.

With nothing much in the home front to prop it up, continued sovereign debt worries in Europe is expected to weigh on investors this week.

In the United States, the failure of legislators to come up with a solution to its deficit woes disappointed the market on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 25.77 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 11231.78 in a shortened session. It finished the week down 4.8 per cent.

The FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed just shy of 1,430 points on Friday, shedding some 2.53 points last week to end at 1,431.55 points.

"A close below 1,430 points should see the continuation of selling, which will likely see the index testing the 1,400-point psychological level, a 50 per cent retracement of the October rally," OSK Research Sdn Bhd said in its stock market analysis on Friday.

Investors may be looking for signs of when the general election will happen as the Umno general assembly convenes from tomorrow to Thursday.

Proton Holdings Bhd is due to report its second quarter results today.

Stocks that could be in focus include Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd. Its third quarter net profit almost tripled to RM10.7 million partly because of lower tax charges.

Shares of Sersol Technologies Bhd could also be active after it reported that a 50-per cent unit in China lost money due to embezzlement.

The case is being investigated by the authorities and the company. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]