KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 27): CGS-CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd said on Tuesday (Sept 27) foreign investors had last week posted their highest weekly net sale value of Bursa Malaysia-listed stocks year-to-date (YTD) at RM565 million, possibly due to the weak ringgit and global recession concerns at a time when world central banks are pursuing aggressive interest rate hikes to fight inflation.

"Last week (ended Sept 23, 2022), they were net sellers in the healthcare and financial services sectors, with Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), Top Glove Corp Bhd and Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd as their top three net sell stocks," CGS-CIMB analyst Ivy Ng Lee Fang wrote in a note.

Ng said foreign investors were the only net sellers of Malaysian equities last week when market sentiment was dented by Top Glove’s Sept 20, 2022 announcement of its first quarterly loss since listing.

The best-performing Bursa indices last week were the transport, construction and REIT sectors, she said.

"The KLCI fell 2.9% w-o-w (week-on-week) due to concerns over more aggressive rate hikes.

"Local institutional investors recorded their highest weekly net buy YTD of RM336 million.

"Local retail investors turned second-largest net buyers last week. They net bought RM218 million of equities, which represent a 12% w-o-w rise in their net buy," she said.

Among individual stocks, Maybank was the largest net buy stock for local institutional investors and largest net sell stock for foreign institutional investors, according to Ng.

Top Glove was the largest net buy stock for retail and nominee investors but the second-largest net sell stock for foreign institutional investors, she said.

"CIMB Group Holdings Bhd was the largest net buy [stock] for foreign institutional investors, but the largest net sell [stock] for local institutional investors.

"Top Glove, Hartalega [Holdings Bhd] and Maybank were the top three regulated short-selling targets last week. The top three short-sell sectors in terms of value were healthcare, technology, and financial services sectors," she said.