KUALA LUMPUR (July 19): Bursa Malaysia said on Tuesday (July 19) the total market capitalisation (market cap) of companies listed on the bourse was lower at RM1.648 trillion as at end June 2022 compared to RM1.774 trillion a month earlier amid lingering concerns on a potential recession in the US and global monetary policy tightening or interest rate hikes to fight inflation.

At RM1.648 trillion as at end June 2022, Bursa-listed companies' market cap had fallen RM126 billion from RM1.774 trillion a month earlier to post the largest year-to-date (YTD) on-month drop in Bursa-listed firms' market cap so far in 2022, according to Bursa's research arm Bursa Digital Research.

"Fear over recession in the US market and tightening monetary policy continued to linger over market sentiment.

"In June, trading on the (Malaysian) bourse was weaker as monthly ADV  (average daily traded value) moderated to RM1.9 billion (May: RM2.39 billion). Trading momentum was lowered across all investor segments, with the largest decline in the foreign ADV," Bursa Digital Research analysts wrote in a note.

According to Bursa Digital Research, local institutions became net buyers of local equities in June 2022 after selling for the past five months.

"In June, local institutional inflow (into local equities) amounted to +658 million," Bursa Digital Research said.

Meanwhile, foreign investors were net sellers of local equities with a net outflow of RM1.28 billion in June 2022.

"However, they remained as net purchasers up to June (2022) with +RM6.08 billion," Bursa Digital Research said.

Bursa Digital Research data show that so far in 2022, Bursa-listed companies' market cap had fallen on-month in January, March, May and June.

In January 2022, the figure fell RM58 billion from a month earlier while the March figure dropped RM11 billion, according to Bursa Digital Research.

In May, Bursa-listed companies' market cap was down RM52 billion from a month earlier, it said.

At Bursa's Tuesday’s 12:30pm break, the bourse operator and regulator's share price settled down one sen or 0.16% at RM6.24 with 41,600 shares traded.

At RM6.24, Bursa has a market cap of about RM5.05 billion based on the group's 809.3 million outstanding shares.

On July 7, 2022, Bursa said in a statement that it had scheduled to release its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 on July 28, 2022.