FOREIGN investors ended their four consecutive weeks of net selling on Bursa Malaysia with a modest RM42.5 mil in net foreign inflows for the Jan 5-9 trading period (prior week: -RM904.0 mil) which paled in comparison with most neighbouring stock markets.
They were net buyers on two out of five days with the largest inflow recorded on Friday (Jan 9) (RM191.0 mil), followed by Wednesday (Jan 7) (RM80.4 mil), according to MBSB Research (formerly MIDF Research).
“Most outflows were seen on Tuesday (Jan 6) (-RM153.4 mil), followed by Thursday (Jan 8) (-RM55.7 mil), and Monday (Jan 5) (-RM19.8 mil),” observed the research house in its weekly fund flow report.
The top three sectors that recorded net foreign inflows were industrial products & services (RM206.7 mil), property (RM69.0 mil) and technology (RM63.0 mil).
Meanwhile, the top three sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were utilities (-RM207.5 mil), plantation (-RM123.5 mil) and REITs (-RM30.2 mil).
Local institutions continued to record net buying for the eighth consecutive week with net inflows amounting to RM126.6 mil last week.
However, local retailers remained net sellers for a sixth week in a row with a net outflow of -RM169.2 mil.
The average daily trading volume (ADTV) saw a broad-based increase: foreign investors by +67.3%, local institutions by +36.7% and local retailers by +30.5%.
In comparison with another four Southeast Asian markets tracked by MBSB Research, Vietnam posted a third straight week of net buying to record an exceptional US$4.88 bil in net foreign inflows – the country’s largest inflow in five years and about ~13x the previous stand-out in December 2022 (US$372.4 mil).
Likewise, foreign funds also reversed to net buying in Thailand with the country seeing an exceptional surge in portfolio inflows at US$3.06 bil last week – its largest in five years.
Indonesia, too, posted its 14th straight week of foreign inflows totalling US$634.8 mil last week, its largest weekly inflow since April 2022 (US$1.76 bil) and around ~5x the previous week’s inflows.
Likewise, the Philippines extended its streak of foreign inflows to a second consecutive week with net buying of US$166.4 mil last week.
The top three stocks with the highest net money inflow from foreign investors last week were Press Metal Aluminium Holdings (RM224.6 mil); Malayan Banking Bhd (RM71.6 mil) and Sunway Construction Group Bhd (RM66.2 mil). – Jan 12, 2026
