KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 — Foreign investors have turned net buyers in the equities market with a net inflow of RM53.31 million in the December 23-26 period against an outflow of RM57.7 million a week earlier, as the United States-China trade dispute gradually dissipated.
However, local retail funds were net sellers at RM30.08 million during the period, switching from being net buyers of equities worth RM13.4 million during December 16-19, while local institutional funds were net sellers at RM23.23 million after picking up RM44.3 million net in the previous week's corresponding period.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US markets continued to reach record highs led by the technology sector.
“Such trend was very much in line with the expected improvement in the global semiconductor sales next year. To some degree, a window-dressing exercise may have also lent support to the equities market,” he told Bernama.
Apart from that, Mohd Afzanizam said higher crude oil prices also helped support the oil and gas-related sector alongside plantation industries, which saw crude palm oil prices hovering at around RM2,900 per tonne.
Earlier during the week, Petronas Dagangan Bhd announced that it had started supplying Euro 4M RON 95 fuel at its stations nationwide, ahead of the government’s gazetted date on Jan 1, 2020.
It said the new fuel specifications contained just 50 parts per million of sulphur content, 10 times less than the Euro 2M standard for RON 95 petrol.
Additionally, its benzene content is reduced by 30 per cent to 3.5 per cent while vapour pressure is reduced by 7.0 per cent to 65 kilopascal, making the fuel cleaner for both the engine and the environment.
Meanwhile, a Bernama report noted that Bursa Malaysia saw 30 new listings this year compared with 22 in 2018, the highest number since 2006 despite the challenging operating environment.
Of the 30 new listings, four were on the Main Market versus two in 2018, 11 were on the Ace Market (nine in 2018) and 15 were on the LEAP Market (11 in 2018).
Bursa Malaysia said Malaysian initial public offering activities in 2019 had been healthy despite the market uncertainties, owing to the stable economic fundamentals, diverse and well-balanced market participants, as well as robust governance framework.
“As such, all in all, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI should be able to close the year at above 1,600 points next week,” said Mohd Afzanizam. — Bernama
