Hang Seng Index and SP500 top the volume charts
LAST week was eventful with a lot of major developments happening across the globe, resulting in topsy-turvy stock markets. Among the highlights were widely anticipated interest rate increases in many countries, including Malaysia and the US. In the US, the Federal Reserve increased interest rates for the fourth time in a row by 75 basis points (bps) while Bank Negara Malaysia raised the Overnight Policy Rate by 25 bps to 2.75% in its continuing efforts to contain rising inflation.
In the US, the S&P 500 Index (SP500), Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) all recorded weekly declines despite closing in positive territory last Friday following better-than-expected October US job growth data.
The NDX plunged the most, by 5.0% week-on-week (w-o-w), while the SP500 and the DJIA tumbled 3.4% and 1.4% wo-w, respectively. Back home, the FBM KLCI declined by 0.6% w-o-w although it erased some losses with a 1.3% rebound last Friday on China reopening hopes.
Overall warrants turnover surged 40.5% w-o-w to RM325.1 million, contributed largely by warrants over the Hang Seng Index (HSI) which made up 88.4% of the total. Despite the afternoon half-day closure of the Hong Kong stock market last Wednesday due to Typhoon Signal No. 8, trading activities in the HSI warrants soared amid the HSI’s extreme moves, recording an 8.7% weekly gain.
Despite starting the week on a downbeat note, falling 1.2% on Monday, the index rebounded 7.6% over two days to trade above the 15,000 mark. It however declined by 3.1% to 15,339.49 on Thursday before staging another rebound the next day to make a new closing high for the week, up 5.4% to 16,161.14, following news of
China’s plan to end Covid-19 flight suspensions.
HSI warrants conquered the top spots in the most active warrants list; call warrant HSI-CLJ maintained its top rank with over 289.5 million units traded followed by HSI-CJ5 with 168.7 million units traded.
Meanwhile, two put warrants over
SP500, which are SP500-H15 and SP500-H17 were also active last week with significantly higher turnovers recorded; SP500-H15 and SP500-H17 collectively saw 17.7 million units or RM6.3 million traded.
To view the full list of structured warrants available on Bursa Malaysia, visit malaysiawarrants.com.my.
Provided for Malaysian residents’ information only. This commentary has not been reviewed by the Securities Commission Malaysia. It is not an offer or recommendation to trade and is not research material. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. You should make your own assessment and seek professional advice. The warrants will not be offered to any US persons.