Market to be lacklustre till year end as investors assess Omicron impact, says CGS-CIMB

Market to be lacklustre till year end as investors assess Omicron impact, says CGS-CIMB

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 6): CGS-CIMB Securities said the FBM KLCI fell 3.1% month-on-month (m-o-m) in November 2021 to close at 1,514 points due to negative reaction from the market to the additional taxes (Cukai Makmur and the removal of tax exemption for foreign source income) announced in Budget 2022.

In a strategy note last Friday (Dec 3), the research house said the monthly average trading value of the market fell 3% m-o-m and 44% year-on-year in November to RM2.95 billion.

“The KLCI in the past 10/43 years posted +2.2%/+3.5% m-o-m on average in December due to window-dressing activities.

“We predict the market to be lacklustre till year end as investors assess the potential impact of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, potential earlier end to bond tapering in the US and earnings risks to corporate Malaysia,” it said.
Foreign investors

Meanwhile, CGS-CIMB said foreign investors' share of the average daily trading value rose 7% points m-o-m to 28% in November.

It said this represents the highest monthly share of foreign investors' trading value year-to-date.

“Retail investors’ share of trading value fell from 35% in October to 31% in November, which represented their lowest monthly share of trade participation since March 2020 (26%).

“Local institutional investors’ share of average daily trading value fell three percentage points to 41% in November,” it said.

The research house said up until November 2021, local retail investors’ share of average trading value grew to 37% (2020 average: 36%), while local institutions’ share fell to 44% (2020 average: 46%).

It said foreign investors’ share of average trading value rose one percentage point to 19% in the same period.
KLCI constituents

CGS-CIMB said that in November, only five out of the 30 companies on the KLCI registered m-o-m gains, while the remaining 25 posted losses.

“The five companies that registered positive m-o-m gains in November were Hartalega Holdings Bhd (+10.8%), Top Glove Corp Bhd (+8%), IHH Healthcare Bhd (+1%), Petronas Gas Bhd (+0.5%) and Maxis Bhd (+0.2%).

“The top three worst performers on a m-o-m basis in November were Genting Bhd (-15%), Genting Malaysia Bhd (-13%) and Dialog Group Bhd (-10%),” it said.

http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/market-be-lacklustre-till-year-end-investors-assess-omicron-impact-says-cgscimb