FOREIGN investors continued to net buy on Bursa Malaysia at an accelerated pace of RM550.9 mil last week which was 2.3 times higher than the week prior.
This was the highest net foreign inflow over the past eight weeks, according to MIDF Research.
“They were net buyers every day last week by registering net purchases of over RM100 mil daily except on Thursday (Sept 21) when the amount moderated to RM48.7 mil after the US Federal Reserve’s second skip of the year,” the research house pointed out in its weekly fund flow report.
The top three sectors that posted the highest net foreign inflows were utilities (RM197.0 mil), transportation & logistics (RM110.1 mil) and consumer products & services (RM72.8 mil). Meanwhile, the only three sectors with net foreign outflows were Industrial products & services (-RM38.6 mil), Healthcare (-RM37.5 mil) and telecommunication & Media (-RM8.4 mil).
Year-to-date (YTD), foreign investors have been net sellers by accounting for RM1.92 bil of net outflow.
Local institutions maintained their net selling stance last week at -RM472.5 mil which was the highest since a year ago during the week ended Aug 19, 2022 when they net sold -RM675.9 mil.
They have been net sellers every day of the week with a net selling streak of eight days. YTD, local institutions have been net buyers totalling RM2.68 bil.
Similarly, local retailers also continued to net sell for the 11th straight week after a net disposal of -RM78.4 mil last week.
Such net selling trend has not been seen in recent years. They net bought RM22.3 mil on Thursday (Sept 21) but were net sellers for the rest of the week. YTD, retailers have net sold -RM765.7 mil.
In terms of participation, there was a decrease in average daily trading volume (ADTV) among foreign investors by -39.9% last week while local retailers and local institutions saw increase of 16.0% and 14.0% respectively.
In comparison with another four Southeast Asian markets tracked by MIDF Research last week, Malaysia continued to post the highest net inflow by foreign funds amounting to US$117.4 mil followed by Indonesia (US$110.6 mil) while Thailand continued to record the highest net outflow at US$184.4 mil followed by Vietnam (US$67.9 mil) and the Philippines (US$47.0 mil).
The top three stocks with the highest net money inflow from foreign investors last week were YTL Power International Bhd (RM87.8 mil), Public Bank Bhd (RM71.0 mil) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (RM61.1 mil). – Sept 25, 2023
