Kuala lumpur: FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) futures are expected to maintain a cautiously positive trajectory in the coming week, trading within the 1,670-1,690 points range. This outlook is supported by bargain hunting, reduced external pressures, and an improvement in regional sentiment.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, stated that market sentiment has seen improvement due to bargain-hunting activities following a recent market correction. The decline in Brent crude prices has also alleviated concerns regarding inflationary pressures.

Thong further noted that easing geopolitical tensions and the anticipation of weaker US employment conditions could influence the US Federal Reserve to consider reducing interest rates later this year. Domestically, the benchmark index has shown resilience, with strong support observed around the 1,660 level at the close on Friday. This suggests sustained buying interest, particularly in selected blue-chip counters with attractive valuations. However, potential gains may be limited by foreign fund flows and the absence of robust domestic catalysts.

For the week just concluded, FBM KLCI futures contracts mostly exhibited gains. On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the July 2026 contract increased by 17.5 points to 1,687.0, the September 2026 contract rose by 18.5 points to 1,668.5, and the December 2026 contract went up by 17 points to 1,670.0. The newly introduced spot contract month, August 2026, was at 1,689.0.

The weekly turnover decreased to 61,231 lots from 146,493 lots in the previous week, with open interest dropping to 33,787 contracts from 93,884 contracts the week before. On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the benchmark index improved by 11.31 points, reaching 1,679.05 from 1,667.74 in the preceding week.