DESPITE looming uncertainties with the re-imposition of movement control order (MCO 2.0) and declaration of a state of emergency (until Aug 1), foreign investors emerged net buyers in the local bourse for the week ended Jan 15, raking in an inflow of RM326.06 mil.
As market reopened on Monday (Jan 11), foreign investors snapped up RM87.85 mil net of local equities with retailers and local institutions as net buyers and net sellers to the tune of RM1.59 mil and -RM89.45 mil respectively, according to MIDF Research.
In fact, foreign investors were net buyers for the entire week with the largest inflow recorded on Wednesday (Jan 13) at RM127.24 mil while the smallest inflow was on Friday (Jan 15) at RM3.69 mil.
“Contrary to expectation, the state of Emergency declaration by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin last week did not spark mass exodus of foreign investors from our equity market,” commented the research house in its fund flow report.
“However, it was the opposite for local institutions who were net sellers every day for last week.”
The largest net selling was recorded on Tuesday (Jan 12) at -RM103.43 mil with the smallest net outflow on Thursday (Jan 14) at -RM12.28 mil.
“Retailers were buyers except on Wednesday (Jan 13),” noted MIDF Research. “Despite their net buying activities, the overall daily inflows were small and recorded below RM7 mil except on Friday (to the tune of RM67.56 mil).”
Year-to-date (end of third week of 2021), retailers are the only net buyers at RM735.89 mil while local institutions and foreign investors were net sellers at -RM724.94 mil and -RM10.96 mil.
In comparison to another three Southeast Asian markets tracked by MIDF Research last week, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia recorded foreign net inflow of US$3.23 bil, US$383.73 mil and US$80.51 mil, while the Philippines experienced a net outflow of US$4.5 mil.
In terms of participation, retail investors recorded a weekly decrease of 3.63% in average daily trade value (ADTV), while foreign investors and local institutions experienced ADTV declines of -4.89% and -18.08% respectively.
The top three stocks with the highest net money inflow last week were Hartalega Holdings Bhd at RM5.24 mil, followed by Hong Leong Bank Bhd (RM4.71 mil) and IOI Corp Bhd (RM3.3 mil). – Jan 18, 2021
