New central depository system (CDS) accounts opened between the months of Jan to July jumped 125% to some 218,000 from 97,000 a year earlier, said Bursa Malaysia senior vice-president of retail marketing Patrick Ng.
Ng was quoted in a research note today by Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) saying that there is roughly a two- to three-month backlog of pending new accounts of about 100,000. “65% of these new accounts comprise millennials (ie those aged 25-40),” Ng said.
While there had been no real answer as to why retail investors adopted an aggressive approach, HLIB analyst Jeremy Goh noted that probable push factors include a low-interest-rate environment, a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Goh said he remained positive over Bursa’s earnings outlook and maintained his overweight call “on gloves, the sector that has garnered the highest interest among retailers.”
