THE shortened trading week of four days on Bursa Malaysia last week due to the Thaipusam replacement public holiday day on Monday (Feb 6) was no respite to the local bourse as foreign investors continued to desert Malaysian equities for the fifth consecutive week with net selling of -RM512.3 mil.
They net sold everyday with the largest net selling on Tuesday (Feb 7) at -RM220.57 mil while Thursday (Feb 9) saw the least net selling at -RM40.84 mil.
“The only sectors which recorded net inflows by foreign investors last week were energy at RM26.4 mil and property at RM3.9 mil,” observed MIDF Research in its weekly fund flow report.
“In contrary, construction, technology and financial services were sectors that recorded the highest net outflows for the week at -RM724.6 mil, -RM115.9 mil and -RM111.2 mil respectively. Year-to-date (YTD), foreign investors have net sold -RM119.9 mil.”
Thankfully, local institutions continued to pick up Malaysian equities with a net buy of RM121.0 mil last week – their fifth consecutive week of net buying.
They net bought everyday with the largest net buying on Tuesday (Feb 7) at RM85.80 mil, Friday (Feb 10) at RM34.63 mil and Thursday (Feb 9) at RM25.74 mil. Only Tuesday (Feb 7) recorded small net selling from the local institution at -RM2.13 mil. YTD, local institutions have net bought RM937.0 mil.”
Elsewhere, local retailers also stayed as net buyers last week, marking their second consecutive weeks of net buying. They net bought everyday with the largest net buying on Tuesday (Feb 7) at RM134.78 mil followed by Wednesday (Feb 8) and Friday (Feb 10) at RM57.15 mil and RM56.76 mil respectively.
“The least recorded net buying by local retailers came in at RM15.09 mil on Thursday (Feb 9),” added MIDF Research.
In terms of participation, there was a decrease in average daily trading volume (ADTV) across the board by -24.9%, -22.5% and -22.3% from local retailers, local institutions and foreign investors respectively.
In comparison with another four Southeast Asian markets tracked by MIDF Research last week, Indonesia recorded the biggest foreign fund inflow with US$215.9 mil followed by Vietnam with US$36.5 mil, while Thailand saw the biggest outflow with US$439.3 mil followed by Malaysia (US$94.6 mil) and the Philippines (US$33.0 mil).
The top three stocks with the highest net money inflow from foreign investors last week were Velesto Energy Bhd (RM18.3 mil). CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (RM14.6 mil) and Frontken Corp Bhd (RM9.9 mil). – Feb 13, 2023
