INVE$T | Market Sentiments
According to MIDF Research, foreign investors turned net buyers again after a week of net selling the week before, with net inflows summed up to RM56.9 million last week. Local retailers remained net buyers for the fifth consecutive week at RM234.8 million while local institutions turned net sellers after a week of net buying with a net selling position of RM291.8 million last week. To date, international funds have been net buyers for 15 out of the 19 weeks of 2022, with a total net inflow of RM6.98 billion. They were net sellers on Wednesday and Thursday, at RM2.08 million and RM145.2 million, respectively. Local institutions were net sellers on all the trading days last week, except on Thursday where they were net buyers to the tune of RM41.38 million. The highest net selling was recorded on Tuesday at RM200.67million, and the smallest net selling on Wednesday at RM40.44 million. They have been net sellers for 16 out of 19 weeks this year. To date, they have sold RM8.1 billion of equities. Local retailers were net buyers on all trading days of the week with the highest net buying on Thursday at RM103.83 million, and smallest net buying on Tuesday, at RM21.34 million. In terms of participation, foreign investors saw a decrease in the average daily trade value by 24.76%. Local retailers saw a decline of 6.9% while local institutions saw an increase of 9.49%.
OPR decision due to inflation pressures – Moody’s
According to Moody’s Analytics, Bank Negara’s surprise decision to increase its overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points to 2% from 1.75% came on the back of rising inflation pressures. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, together with China’s zero-Covid policy, has caused supply-chain disruptions and an uptick in global commodity prices. Several central banks are expected to adjust monetary policy settings ‘at a faster pace’, hinting at concerns over capital outflows and the weakening ringgit. Given that the country’s borders had fully reopened on April 1, Bank Negara now expects the economy to strengthen. Domestic Covid-19 restrictions have also largely been lifted, allowing consumer and investor spending to pick up. Inflation remains relatively subdued, and this renders the central bank’s move largely pre-emptive. Higher food and fuel prices pushed the consumer price index to 2.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) in March. In comparison, consumer prices in neighbouring Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines rose between 4.5% and 5.5% in April. Being a net exporter of oil, Malaysia could afford to subsidise its domestic prices to ward off price increases due to the high oil price. Nonetheless, the country is subjected to rising food prices, which has been exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The price of food and non-alcoholic beverages had soared 4% y-o-y in March, on par with the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. Malaysia’s gross domestic product for the first quarter of 2022 came in stronger than expected at 5% compared to its previous quarter’s performance – the fourth quarter of 2021 – which was 3.6% y-o-y. Industrial production grew 5.1% y-o-y in March, compared with a 4% increase in February.
Malaysia not at risk of recession – Finance Minister
According to Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Malaysia is not at risk of recession and is on track to meet forecast economic growth targets of between 5.3% and 6.3% this year. The country’s economic growth would be supported by the government’s expansionary fiscal policy as well as accommodative monetary policy. The current talk of a global recession was premature and unwarranted, and Malaysia would see further growth momentum in the second quarter after recording a strong first-quarter gross domestic product growth of 5%. However, he remains wary of potential downside. There is a potential risk due to the war in Ukraine, high commodity prices and global monetary policy tightening. As a result, the government will need to ensure adequate fiscal flexibility in the future to manage such risks. This is why he intends to gradually reduce the fiscal deficit from 6.4% in 2021 to 6% in 2022 and also rationalise the subsidies to be more targeted. Failure to meet debt obligations was a major risk for countries in the event of a global recession but it was not a risk for Malaysia, as the risk was mitigated due to its low exposure to external debt, with less than 3% in foreign currencies. Malaysia had ample liquidity to finance the government and private sector borrowing needs.
Eye On The Markets
This week, on Friday (20May), the Ringgit opened at 4.3965 against the USD from 4.3950 on Tuesday (17May). Meanwhile, the Ringgit was 3.1839 to the Sing Dollar on Friday (20May). On Tuesday (17May), the FBM KLCI opened at 1555.68. As at Friday (20May) 10:00am, the FBM KLCI is up 0.85 points for the week at 1556.53. Over in US, the overnight Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 236.94 points (-0.75%) to 31,253.13 whilst the NASDAQ shed 29.66 points (-0.26%) to 11,388.50.
