INVE$T | Market Sentiments
According to Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) executive director (Islamic capital market development) Sharifatul Hanizah Said Ali, while the Malaysian capital market is set to benefit from the projected domestic economic recovery, it is essential for the stakeholders to align focus and assess the impact to deploy different approaches and initiatives that best cater to the market’s needs. The SC has produced the Capital Market Master Plan 3 (CMP3), a five-year strategic plan for the growth of Malaysia’s capital market. The strategic initiatives over the next five years will be guided by key development and regulatory priorities. These strategic thrusts focus on catalysing competitive growth, empowering investors for a better future, and shaping a stakeholder economy, whilst embedding shared accountability, prioritising efficiency, and outcomes, as well as embracing technology. She said this in her keynote address at the ninth Malaysian Financial Planning Council e-Conference. The SC aims to facilitate a conducive environment to support investor empowerment and elevate financial literacy in line with the CMP3. The Malaysian capital market has remained resilient with a 3.0 per cent growth to RM3.5 trillion in 2021 from RM3.4 trillion in 2020. Notwithstanding the various challenges brought by the fluctuating economic conditions, the capital market continued to play its critical roles in financing the economy with a notable increase in fundraising activities and encouraging the growth of the overall fund management industry. Total funds raised in the capital market remained robust, rising to RM130.9 billion in 2021 — above the five-year pre-pandemic average of RM121.4 billion. It is imperative to raise the bar on professional standards and conduct requirements to enhance professionalism in the financial planning industry. The SC issued Guidelines on Conduct for Capital Market Intermediaries on April 1, which also applies to licensed financial planners to foster good business conduct and a good corporate culture that is centred on the fair treatment of clients and to promote trust in all intermediaries. While regulation can play a role to promote the right culture, the industry must also continue to shape the right behaviours within their own organisations. To this end, it is commendable to see the industry’s harmonisation and elevation of the code of ethics and best practice standards by the relevant certification associations.
Malaysia’s total trade soars to new high of RM236.6bln in March : DOSM
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, Malaysia’s total trade recorded a double digit growth of 27.3 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in March 2022 to reach a new high of RM236.6 billion. Export and import values in March once again broke the record for all-time highs at RM131.6 billion and RM104.9 billion, respectively. Malaysia’s imports surpassed the RM100 billion mark for the first time ever, in line with the surge in intermediate goods, signifying a positive sign of domestic economic activity. Trade surplus widened by 10.3 per cent from RM24.2 billion in the preceding year to RM26.7 billion, marking 23 consecutive months of trade surplus since May 2020. Malaysia’s exports accelerated by 25.4 per cent from RM105.0 billion to RM131.6 billion, surpassing the RM100 billion mark for the seventh consecutive month since September 2021. Export value growth in March 2022 was supported by both domestic exports and re-exports. Domestic exports were valued at RM106.9 billion, contributing 81.2 per cent to total exports, picking up strongly by 22.8 per cent y-o-y. Meanwhile, re-exports amounted to RM24.7 billion, expanded by 38.0 per cent compared to March 2021. Along with the export performance, imports also registered a strong growth of 29.9 per cent from RM80.8 billion to RM104.9 billion. In comparison to February 2022, the performance of total trade, exports, imports and trade surplus showed the increases of 28.1 per cent, 28.7 per cent, 27.3 per cent, and 34.8 per cent, respectively. An outstanding annual growth in exports was portrayed in 166 out of 255 commodity groups, showing increases compared to the same month of the previous year, led by thermionic valves and tubes. As for imports, 186 of 259 groups posted a positive growth. The rise in exports was attributable mainly to higher exports to Singapore (+RM5.1 billion), followed by Japan (+RM2.1 billion), South Korea (+RM1.8 billion), the European Union (+RM1.8 billion), China (+RM1.7 billion), Taiwan (+RM1.4 billion), Thailand (+RM1.4 billion), Indonesia (+RM1.4 billion), and the United States (+RM1.3 billion). On top of that, China was a key contributor to the increase in imports, which increased by RM3.4 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia (+RM2.9 billion), Taiwan (+RM2.8 billion), Indonesia (+RM2.5 billion), Singapore (+RM2.3 billion), the United States (+RM1.4 billion), and Thailand (+RM1.2 billion). The expansion of export was driven by electrical and electronics products (+RM13.0 billion); petroleum products (+RM4.6 billion); palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products (+RM3.1 billion); liquefied natural gas (+RM2.5 billion); crude petroleum (+RM1.6 billion); and palm oil-based manufactured products (+RM1.1 billion). Meanwhile, the rise in imports were noted for electrical and electronics products (+RM7.1 billion); crude petroleum (+RM6.1 billion); petroleum products (+RM3.0 billion); chemical and chemical products (+RM2.2 billion); machinery, equipment and parts (+RM1.6 billion); metalliferous ores and metal scrap (+RM1.2 billion); and coal (+RM1.2 billion). On the performance for the first quarter of 2022, the total trade, exports, imports, and trade surplus continued to record strong double-digit growth. The total trade went up by 23.6 per cent, supported by the expansion in exports (+22.2 per cent), as well as imports (+25.2 per cent). Consequently, trade surplus recorded a higher value of RM65.1 billion.
Local bourse market cap down slightly in March as investors booked profit – Bursa
According to Bursa Malaysia, the total market capitalisation of the local bourse slightly moderated to RM1.795 trillion in March this year compared with RM1.81 trillion reported in the previous corresponding month. The reduction was due to investors booking their profit in the plantation and energy sectors, subsequent to the record high commodity prices last month. Meanwhile, foreign inflows further accelerated to RM3.29 billion in March as foreign investors turned net buyers in financial services, industrial and plantation sectors. However, foreign investors emerged as net sellers in the technology, telecoms and utility sectors. In March, total average daily volume further escalated to RM2.96 billion, with strengthened trading activities among foreign and local institutional investors. In terms of stocks, counters that saw the biggest foreign inflows were Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (RM1.1 billion), Public Bank Bhd (RM935 million), Malayan Banking Bhd (RM348 million), Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) (RM345 million) and Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd (RM174 million). Foreign investors further increased their stakes in plantation stocks with a total of RM962 million inflow in March, despite the moderation in crude palm oil price after hitting its peak last month. Meanwhile, local institutions sold RM692 million worth of plantation stocks, while local retailers offloaded RM181 million in the same month. The stock exchange also highlighted selected plantation stocks, such as KLK, which saw a RM345 million inflow by foreign investors, while local institutions took profit, resulting in an outflow of RM342 million.
Eye On The Markets
This week, on Friday (22Apr), the Ringgit opened at 4.3060 against the USD from 4.2390 on Monday (18Apr). Meanwhile, the Ringgit was 3.1554 to the Sing Dollar on Friday (22Apr). On Monday (18Apr), the FBM KLCI opened at 1591.64. As at Friday (22Apr) 10:00am, the FBM KLCI is down 4.70 points for the week at 1596.34. Over in US, the overnight Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 368.03 points (-1.05%) to 34,792.76 whilst the NASDAQ shed 278.41 points (-2.07%) to 13,174.65.
