FOREIGN investors remained net buyers on Bursa Malaysia for a fourth consecutive week but foreign inflows shrunk substantially by around 40x to a modest RM12.8 mil which is around 40x less than the prior week’s RM510.9 mil.
They were net buyers on three out of five trading days with the largest inflow recorded on Monday (Jan 26) (RM135.3 mil) followed by Tuesday (Jan 27) (RM68.1 mil) and Thursday (Jan 29) (RM42.6 mil), according to MBSB Research (formerly MIDF Research).
“The largest net outflows were seen on Friday (Jan 30) (-RM128.1 mil) and Wednesday (Jan 28) (-RM105.2 mil),” observed the research house in its weekly fund flow report.
The top three sectors that recorded net foreign inflows were telecommunication & media (RM16.6 mil), industrial products & services (RM14.8 mil) and technology (RM8.1 mil).
Meanwhile, the only three sectors with net foreign outflows were financial services (-RM482.8 mil), utilities (-RM258.2 mil) and plantation (-RM75.9 mil).
Local institutions extended their net buying streak to a second consecutive week with RM532.3 mil in net inflows.
However, local retailers remained net sellers for the ninth week in a row with a net outflow of -RM545.1 mil last week.
The average daily trading volume (ADTV) saw a broad-based increase with local retailers by +4.0%, local institutions (+25.7%) and foreign investors (+50.8%).
In comparison with another four Southeast Asian markets tracked by MBSB Research, the Philippines extended its net buying streak to five consecutive weeks with US$127.2 mil in net foreign inflows – its largest since September 2024 and ~31x higher than the previous week’s inflows.
Thailand saw a third week of net foreign inflows with a modest US$9.0 mil net buying, supported by a positive surprise with industrial production rising +2.5% year-on-year (yoy) in December 2025 and rebounding from a -3.9% yoy fall the previous month.
However, Indonesia extended its net foreign outflows streak to a second week with stock disposals amounting to -US$830.6 mil while Vietnam recorded its third successive week of net foreign outflows at -USD59.6 mil.
The top three stocks with the highest net money inflow from foreign investors last week were CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (RM253.3 mil), AMMB Holdings Bhd (RM117.3 mil) and Public Bank Bhd (RM102.8 mil). – Feb 3, 2026
