AS October 2018 ended, the FBM KLCI closed lower by 4.9%. Malaysia’s performance is still commendable as it is only below that of India’s Sensex Index, which is higher by 1.1%, the Nikkei 225’s 3.7% decline and the Bangkok’s SET fall of 4.8% year-to-date.

Other markets in the region have performed relatively much worse with losses ranging from as low as 7.9% for the Taiwan Stock Exchange Weighted Index to as high as 31.9% for the Shenzhen’s Composite Index.

In a down market and if the selling pressure persist, one of the mechanism that is available for listed companies is to buy back their own shares, i.e. after obtaining the mandate from shareholders, which is typically obtained at every AGM.

A share buyback programme allows a company to purchase up to 10% of its issued and paid-up capital. Over the past four days up to Nov 1, 42 companies bought back their shares with 12 of them being active even on a daily basis while eight others, at least three out of four trading days.

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