AFTER a profit taking spell of -RM423.5 mil the prior week, foreign investors re-channelled their funds into Bursa Malaysia again last week, culminating in a net purchase of RM242.1 mil worth of equities.
They started off the week as net sellers amounting to RM17.2 mil but went on a net buying spree for the rest of the week with the strongest net inflow occurred on Wednesday (July 31) at RM120.7 mil, according to MIDF Research.
“The top three sectors that were net bought by foreign investors were financial services (RM417.9 mil), construction (RM128.1 mil) and telecommunication & Media (RM49.8 mil),” revealed the research house in its weekly fund flow report.
“The top three sectors they net sold were technology (-RM118.8 mil), utilities (-RM83.8 mil) and consumer products & services (-RM71.7 mil).”
On the contrary, local institutions net sold -RM363.1 mil last week after having briefly net bought the week prior.
They net bought RM35.5 mil on Monday (July 29) and RM7.3 mil on Thursday (Aug 1) but net sold for the rest of the week. The strongest net selling day was Friday (Aug 2) at -RM199.9 mil.
However, local retailers net bought for the second consecutive week at RM121.0 mil. They only net sold on Monday (July 29) and Thursday (Aug 1) at -RM18.3 mil and -RM17.6 mil respectively.
The average daily trading volume (ADTV) showed an increase of +20.0% among foreign investors while local institutions and local retailers saw declines of -1.0% and -4.8% respectively.
In comparison with another four Southeast Asian markets tracked by MIDF Research, only Indonesia managed to sustain its sixth consecutive week of net foreign inflows with foreign investors having net bought US$171.1 mil worth of equities from the Indonesia Stock Exchange.
Elsewhere, foreign funds net sold again in Thailand at -US$46.7 mil after a two-week spell of net inflows while the five-week streak of net inflows in the Philippines ended last week when foreign investors net sold -US$23.2 mil.
Likewise, foreign investors net sold -US$15.8 mil in Vietnam last week after briefly net bought US$16.6 mil the week prior.
The top three stocks with the highest net money inflow from foreign investors last week were CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (RM263.6 mil), Malayan Banking Bhd (RM125.9 mil) and Gamuda Bhd (RM65.7 mil) – Aug 5, 2024.
