KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign investors continued to be net buyers in Asian markets for the third consecutive week, according to MIDF Research.
“Based on data for the seven Asian exchanges that we track, investors classified as ‘foreign’ had accumulated US$699.7 mil net last week compared to US$1.14 bil net bought in the preceding week,” notes its analyst Adam M Rahim.
Overall in 2019, foreign investors have been net buyers in Asia for a total of 34 weeks.
Meanwhile, foreign investors continued to be net buyers Malaysia’s market for the second week. “Based on data from Bursa, international investors acquired RM69.9 mil net of local equities during the holiday-shortened week compared to RM68.7 mil net bought in the week before. In 2019, international funds were net buyers for a total of 18 weeks,” says Adam.
Bursa began the week on the right foot as international funds mopped up RM74.7 mil net of local equities on Dec 30. As such, the local stock barometer was lifted by 0.3% to close at 1,614.2 points, a level not observed since August 2019.
Christmas eve had seen foreign investors retreating to the sidelines as they disposed local equities to the tune of RM19.6 mil net, dragging down the local bourse by 0.6% to settle at 1,604.2 points.
When markets reopened on Dec 26, international funds continued to reduce exposure in local equities but at a very slow pace of only RM1.8 mil net. The reduction in foreign net selling was mainly attributed to the news that the US and China will soon seal the first phase of settlement of their bilateral trade dispute.
International funds later turned net buyers on Dec 27, snapping up RM16.6 mil net of local equities following a rally in local plantation stocks in line with the rise in crude palm oil price.
With trading for the month to end tomorrow, December has so far seen a foreign net outflow of RM1.06 bil. As such, 2019 is set to be another year of foreign net outflow for Malaysia with the year-to-date foreign net outflow as of last Friday standing at RM10.99 bil, lower than last year’s total foreign net outflow of RM11.69 bil.
Public Bank Bhd registered the highest net money inflow of RM6.76 mil last week. Its share price advanced 0.3% for the week, outperforming the local bourse which had a 0.03% weekly gain.
Malayan Banking Bhd saw the largest net money outflow of RM7.4 mil last week. Its stock price was -0.12% lower for the week, underperforming vis-à-vis the FBM KLCI which advanced 0.03% during the review week. – Dec 30, 2019
