DESPITE it being a shortened trading week in view of the Christmas holiday on Monday (Dec 25), interest in Malaysian equities among foreign investors stretched into a third week as they net bought RM165.3 mil worth of stocks on Bursa Malaysia.
They net bought RM85.2 mil on Wednesday (Dec 27) and RM187.9 mil on Thursday (Dec 28) but net sold -RM50.3 mil on Tuesday (Dec 26) and -RM57.5 mil on Friday (Dec 29), according to MIDF Research.
“For the week, the top three sectors with the highest net foreign inflows were technology (RM213.1 mil), energy (RM45.0 mil) and industrial products & services (RM37.0 mil),” the research house pointed out in its weekly fund flow report.
“The top three sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were financial services (-RM93.5 mil), healthcare (-RM59.8 mil) and construction (-RM27.8 mil).”
On the contrary, local institutional investors continued to net sell for the second straight week at -RM189.6 mil which was 77.7% higher than the week prior.
They net bought RM21.0 mil on Tuesday (Dec 26) and RM58.9 mil on Friday (Dec 29) but net sold -RM66.9 mil on Wednesday (Dec 27) and -RM202.7 mil on Thursday (Dec 28).
However, local retailers net bought a modest RM4.3 mil last week after net selling in the two previous weeks. They net bought RM29.3 mil on Tuesday (Dec 26) and RM14.8 mil on Thursday (Dec 28) but net sold -RM18.4 mil on Wednesday (Dec 27) and -RM1.4 mil on Friday (Dec 29).
In terms of participation, there was an increase in average daily trading volume (ADTV) among local institutions by +11.6% while local retailers and foreign investors saw declines of -4.3% and -22.0% respectively.
In comparison with another four Southeast Asian markets tracked by MIDF Research, all markets posted net inflow with Indonesia recording a third consecutive week of net buying at US$186.6 mil while Thailand saw a return of foreign funds with a net inflow of US$92.9 mil last week after a brief net selling the week before.
Elsewhere, Vietnam recorded a net foreign inflow of US$19.3 mil last week after seven consecutive weeks of net outflows while the Philippines also recorded a net inflow of US$6.1 mil last week after two weeks of net outflows.
The top three stocks with the highest net money inflow from foreign investors last week were Frontken Corp Bhd (RM189.6 mil), Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) (RM58.9 mil) and Pentamaster Corp Bhd (RM33.3 mil). – Jan 2, 2023
