KUALA LUMPUR (March 5): Foreign investors bought RM160.9 million of Malaysian equity last week, lower than the RM190.9 million in the prior week, according to MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd Research.
In his weekly fund flow report today, MIDF Research’s Adam M Rahim said foreign investors were net buyers on Monday and Tuesday.
He said the net inflow on Monday was marginal at only RM29.9 million but foreign buying later spiked to RM206.6 million net on Tuesday.
“The heavy foreign buying was in tandem with the rally of banking stocks which pushed the FBM KLCI to settle at 1,871 points, the highest closing since 2014.
“However, foreigners reduced their exposure in local stocks on Wednesday, disposing RM26.1 million net after Fed Chair Powell’s testimony revived fears on more rate hikes in 2018.
Adam said the spike in foreign selling on Tuesday was in conformity with other South East Asian peers namely Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.
He said the situation of global markets did not turn any better on Friday amid President Trump’s protectionism woes which compounded concerns over a more hawkish Fed and the timing of the ending for Japan.s monetary stimulus.
“Hence, foreign investors continued to sell stocks on Bursa on Friday to a tune of US$25.3 million net.
“Nonetheless, we note that Malaysia is the only beneficiary of foreign inflows among the seven Asian exchanges we track last week,” he said.
Adam said the month of February recorded an outflow of RM1.12 billion net, the first monthly outflow since November 2017.
Meanwhile, he said on a year-to-date basis, Malaysia has attracted RM2.21 billion worth of foreign funds compared to RM1.57 billion recorded in the same period last year.
“The foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) stood above the RM1 billion mark for the ninth straight week at RM1.51 billion, resembling active foreign participation.
“The retail market too remained vibrant with an weekly ADTV of RM1.18 billion,” he said.