Malaysia’s securities regulator expects the capital market to stay “resilient” this year in line with the domestic economy, though it will continue to be influenced by global volatility driven by the pace of interest rate hikes by central banks, and geopolitical developments.
“…conditions in the domestic capital market are expected to remain orderly, and continue to support the economy underpinned by strong macroeconomic fundamentals and supportive capital market infrastructure,” Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) says in its 2022 annual report published on March 27.
Last year, the value of the Malaysian capital market, comprising stock market capitalisation and total outstanding bonds and sukuk or Islamic debt, grew 2.86% to 3.6 trillion ringgit (US$816.6 billion) from 3.5 trillion ringgit in 2021.
Total funds raised rose almost 37% to 179.4 billion ringgit, including 26 billion ringgit in the stock market and 153.4 billion ringgit in the bond market.
“The capital market remained resilient and orderly in 2022, against the backdrop of increasingly pessimistic global economic outlook and tighter global financial conditions,” the report says.
Malaysia’s stock market capitalisation fell 2.8% to 1.74 trillion ringgit last year as the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index declined 4.6%.