FBM KLCI futures to ease further next week

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are expected to ease further next week in line with the softer cash market, a dealer said.

Affin Investment Bank Bhd Vice-President/Head of Retail Research Dr Nazri Khan said the market is expected to soften due to an overbought correction and an uncertain external development.

"We observe cautious trading with global and local defensive stocks leading higher as political and economic risks loom in early November due to the imminent political leadership shifts in the world's two biggest economies (USA and China)," he told Bernama.

For the week just-ended, the FBM KLCI futures were traded mostly lower as profit-taking emerged in the middle of the week after a recent streak of gains.

On a week-to-week basis, November 2012 lost 25 points to 1,649, December 2012 dropped 21.5 points to 1,651.5 and March 2013 declined 22 points to 1,646.

October 2012 ended on Wednesday at 1,673 while June 2013 was introduced on Thursday at 1,663.

Turnover increased to 77,486 lots from 26,716 lots while open interest went down to 36,434 contracts from 46,332 contracts previously.