KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the week in negative territory, dragged by heavy selling pressure in the region.
At 5pm, FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM) KLCI closed 0.11 per cent or 1.62 points lower at 1,441.04 versus Thursday's close of 1,442.66.
The key index, which opened at 1,443.35, moved between 1,438.36 and 1,443.75 levels throughout the day.
The broader market saw losers surpass gainers 557 to 315, while 465 counters remained unchanged.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said heavy selling pressure in the region led to Malaysian equities closing significantly lower as the US 10-year Treasury yield reached 5 per cent, the highest level for this key rate since 2007.
"In the meantime, oil prices continued to rise on Friday amid concerns that the Israel-Gaza conflict might escalate in the Middle East, potentially disrupting supplies from one of the world's leading production regions, which might trigger inflation and lead to rate hikes by central banks," he said.
Thong anticipated that the market's underlying sentiment would remain volatile, influenced by external factors such as inflation, the potential for interest rate adjustments, and geopolitical tensions.
"Hence, we expect a cautious outlook in the local market for the time being. Consequently, we anticipate the benchmark index to remain in a consolidation phase, trading within the range of 1,430-1,450 for the upcoming week.
"Technical point of view, we see the immediate resistance at 1,460 while support at 1,430," he added.
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