KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign investors have turned net buyers in the equities market with a net inflow of RM53.31 million in the Dec 23-26 period against an outflow of RM57.7 million a week earlier, as the US-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 Dec 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% to 3.5% while vapour pressure is reduced by 7% to 65 kilopascal, making the fuel cleaner for both the engine and the environment. – Bernama
