The domestic cash market is expected to continue its uptrend in the second half of 2017 (2H17), with construction and infrastructure stocks to be in the limelight.

Kenanga Investors Bhd Senior Portfolio Manager, Christopher Kok Keng Fai, said 2H17 will witness more construction and infrastructure projects to be given out and this, coupled with Chinese foreign direct investments, will trigger counters in these sectors.

"Retail volume has increased and it showed that market sentiment is positive," he said at a press conference in conjunction with PhillipCapital’s 8th Annual Investment Conference 2017 here today.

Kok said Malaysia’s positive export figures will also boost the local market and simultaneously benefit companies involved in the export supply chain.

On whether the undersubscribed Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd's initial public offering has affected market sentiment negatively, Kok said, the traders were still upbeat on the local bourse.

"Maybe traders are not interested in the sector (petrochemical) because overall the market is still vibrant," he said.

On foreign fund investment, he said, for the first half of this year, foreign funds had bought RM10 billion local equities.

Phillip Mutual Bhd Chief Strategist, Phua Lee Kerk, said the softer investment in Asia was due to the strong economy in the US, of which the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq recorded an all-time high recently.

"For instance, US pension fund is not interested to go into Asia as their domestic data are strong and more attractive. This situation will stay until end of summer or may be extended until next year when they rebalance their portfolio," he said.

PhillipCapital is a group of companies offering a comprehensive suite of financial services and by 2018, it will have custody of over US$38 billion (US$1 = RM4.28) in clients’ assets and global assets under management of US$2.6 billion, with US$2 billion managed in Asia.

The group’s total shareholders’ funds are US$1 billion.

Singapore based-PhillipCapital operates in the financial hubs of 16 countries, with offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, UAE, UK, France, Turkey, Australia and US.

-- BERNAMA