KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia's average daily trading value (ADTV) surged 59 per cent to RM3.27 billion in the first half of the year from RM2.06 billion for the same corresponding period in 2023, showing the trading on the equities market has thrived.

Bursa Malaysia Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) benchmark index crossed the psychological 1,600-point mark in early May - the highest level in two years, and continues to dynamically move between the 1,580 and 1,620 level.

"On the equities front, Bursa Malaysia achieved a historic milestone, surpassing market capitalisation of RM2 trillion on May 7, 2024," he said in his keynote address at the Phillip Capital 14th Annual Investment Conference 2024 today.

Muhamad Umar said the daily trading volume for all derivatives products combined reached a historic high, exceeding 178,000 contracts on May 29, 2024 while open interest, a vital gauge of market depth and price trend momentum, hit a record of over 366,000 contracts on March 26, 2024.

Besides, the crude palm oil futures (FCPO) contract recorded a historic daily trading volume of over 141,000 contracts on April 3, 2024, surpassing the previous record of over 127,000 contracts on March 17, 2020.

"The open interest for FCPO also reached a new high of over 299,000 contracts on March 14, 2024 surpassing the previous high of over 288,000 contracts on Sept 10, 2014," he said.

In addition, he said the FBM KLCI Futures (FKLI) trading volume continues to see a positive trend, culminating in a record daily trading volume of over 95,000 contracts on April 26, 2024, surpassing the previous record of over 73,000 contracts on Oct 27, 2023.

"The uptrend in FKLI prices is a reflection of the higher FBM KLCI, while the surge in trading volume underscores the growing confidence and opportunities in the Malaysian capital market," he said.

Muhamad Umar said that this week there are three consecutive ACE Market listings alone across the construction, technology and consumer sectors and the companies have made impressive gains.

"All of them debuted at triple digit percentage gains from their initial public offering (IPO) price, ranging between 129 per cent and 204 per cent in their opening price," he said.

He added that Bursa Malaysia welcomed 24 new IPOs to the market thus far this year, and by the end of July, this number will increase to 28 IPOs.

With this, he said the 24 IPOs comprising four Main Market; 19 ACE Market and one Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) Market, recorded a combined market capitalisation of RM7.6 billion.

- BERNAMA

TAGS: Bursa Malaysia, Average Daily Trading Value, Equity Market, Phillip Capital Annual Investment Conference