FOREIGN investors reversed their five-week net buying streak by having embarked on net selling of -RM276.4 mil last week.
Net selling peaked on Thursday (Dec 7) at -RM95.4 mil followed by Monday (Dec 4) at -RM92.5 mil while the remaining days of the week saw outflows of less than -RM40.0 mil, according to MIDF Research.
The top three sectors with net foreign inflows last week were utilities (RM118.5 mil), property (RM19.1 mil) and construction (RM9.4 mil) while the top three sectors with net foreign outflows were consumer products & services (-RM191.3 mil), transport & logistics (RM62.3 mil) and industrial products & services (-RM48.4 mil).
“In contrast, local institutions switched to being net buyers at RM194.0 mil after five consecutive weeks of net selling,” the research house pointed out in its weekly fund flow report.
Every trading day recorded net buying except for Tuesday (Dec 5) when there was an outflow of -RM21.4 mil. On that day, local institutions were observed selling shares of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (-RM25.5 mil), YTL Power International Bhd (-RM16.7 mil), and Public Bank Bhd (-RM15.3 mil).
Local retailers sustained their net buying of domestic equities for the second consecutive week with RM82.4 mil. This represents a significantly moderated rate compared to their net purchase of RM210.9 mil in the previous week.
In terms of participation, there were declines in average daily trading volume (ADTV) across the board – local retailers (-15.3%), local institutions (-16.4%), and foreign investors (-49.9%).
In comparison with another four Southeast Asian markets tracked by MIDF Research, only the Philippines posted a foreign net inflow – its third week in a row – although the amount was a meagre US$1.3 mil.
Vietnam experienced its fifth consecutive week of outflow last week with -US$141.9 mil followed by Thailand for the third week in a row (-US$135.2 mil) and Indonesia (-US$69.5 mil) which ended a streak of three consecutive weeks of inflows.
The top three stocks with the highest net money inflow from foreign investors last week were YTL Corp Bhd (RM83.6 mil), YTL Power (RM53.5 mil) and Malayan Banking Bhd (RM41.8 mil). – Dec 11, 2023
