KUALA LUMPUR: Hwang DBS Vickers Research (HDBSVR) said on Monday, July 26 the bulls are ready to go on a momentum-driven ride as our Malaysian bourse appears eager to plot fresh highs since the market rally began in mid-Mar last year.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) settled at the upper end of its 17.7-point trading range last week for a weekly increase of 9.0-point or 0.7%.

“Gaining even more through the week were the FBM 70 Index (+0.9%) and the FBM ACE Index (1.4%). An added positive was the greater trading activity that accompanied the market rise amid rotational plays, with daily average volume surging to 943.0m shares (from 680.0m units) valued at RM1.2b (RM1.1b previously),” it said.

HDBSVR said this will be a dry week in terms of local news flows. No material economic report or corporate event is on the schedule (unless one is interested in new listings, namely Focus Point on Tuesday and Ivory PROPERTIES [] on Wednesday).

“A quiet backdrop may not necessarily be a bad point actually, as it could then pave the way for the existing momentum to carry on, provided that overseas stock markets remain steady,” it said.

On the chart, the FBM KLCI has recovered from a recent trough of 1,243.86 on 27 May to reach a high of 1,345.68 last Friday. The benchmark index has now chalked up a cumulative increase of 76.5-point or 6.0% after rising in seven of the past eight weeks.

From a technical perspective, it is vital for the FBM KLCI to linger above the resistance-turned-support line of 1,340 in the coming week. If this scenario holds, then the key market barometer is on course to surpass the peak of 1,349.92 (achieved on 4 May) anytime soon, as it makes its way towards the resistance targets of 1,375 (first) and 1,395 (second) going forward.