FOREIGN investors continued to sustain their selling trend on Bursa Malaysia for the fifth consecutive week with a net sale of equities amounting to -RM435.1 mil, marking a +38.6% increase from the previous week.
The three-day net buying streak by the foreigners ended on Monday (March 25) at RM13.7 mil, according to MIDF Research.
“On Monday (March 25), official data revealed that Malaysia’s leading index expanded by +3.2% yoy (year-on-year) in January 2024, indicating a more promising outlook in the forthcoming months,” the research house pointed out in its weekly fund flow report.
“However, starting from Tuesday (March 26) onward, net selling resumed.”
The sectors with the highest net foreign inflows last week were property (RM87.1 mil), construction (RM20.2 mil) and energy (RM16.9 mil) while those that recorded the highest net foreign outflows were financial services (-RM210.8 mil), consumer products & services (-RM123.3 mil) and plantation (-RM94.7 mil).
In contrast, local institutions persisted in their net buying trend for the fifth consecutive week with a net purchase of RM587.7 mil.
Unlike foreign investors, they recorded a net selling of -RM11.9 mil on Monday (March 25), followed by a net buying of RM599.6m from Tuesday (March 26) to Friday (March 29).
However, local retailers sustained their net selling streak totalling -RM152.7 mil last week by selling every trading day for the past 16 days.
Regarding participation, the average daily trading volume (ADTV) decreased for retail and institutional investors by -0.9% and -0.7% respectively. However, foreign investors recorded a slight increase of +0.5%.
In comparison with another four Southeast Asian markets tracked by MIDF Research, all markets posted foreign net outflows led by Vietnam with a fourth successive week of net selling amounting to -US$190.4 mil.
In Indonesia, foreign investors reversed course, becoming net sellers at -US$124.7m after three consecutive weeks of net buying.
For the fifth week in a row, Thailand sustained a net foreign outflow with -US$3.0 mil while foreign investors in the Philippines shifted to being net sellers of equities with -US$41.8 mil after briefly engaging in net buying the week prior.
The top three stocks with the highest net money inflow from foreign investors last week were CTOS Digital Bhd (RM40.4 mil), YTL Power International Bhd (RM33.6 mil) and Sime Darby Bhd (RM32.8 mil). – April 1, 2024
