Stocks on Bursa Malaysia rode a rare wave of positive sentiment at the start of the new year, faring better than its regional peers. The benchmark FBM KLCI and the broader FBM Emas index ended 4% and 3.9% higher respectively for January, outperforming all three major US market benchmarks as well as major Asian markets, with the notable exception of Japan’s Nikkei 225 index.
Total traded volume surged sharply higher in January — compared against the traded volumes in the previous month and the average for 2023 — and especially for smaller cap stocks. As we all know, that bubble burst very quickly, with the subsequent heavy sell-off and losses in many speculative stocks. The FBM Small Cap index and FBM ACE index have since fallen well off their highs for the month but investor interest in large- and mid-cap stocks recovered (see Chart 1). Quality matters.
