KUALA LUMPUR (March 29): Foreign investors sold equities listed on Bursa Malaysia amounting to RM239.8 million on a net basis last week, compared with RM101.07 million the week before, according to MIDF Research.

In its weekly fund flow report today, the MIDF Research team said foreign investors sold RM28.86 million net of local equities as the market reopened last Monday, with retailers and local institutions both being net buyers to the tune of RM26.42 million and RM2.44 million respectively.

“Foreign investors were net sellers every day except last Wednesday and Friday. The inflow was insufficient to reverse the negative momentum. The largest foreign outflow was recorded last Tuesday at RM213.97 million and the smallest outflow was on Monday at only RM28.86 million,” it noted.

On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, foreign net selling this year came in lower when compared to the same period last year, with net selling by foreigners at RM1.52 billion in 2021 thus far, compared with RM2.59 billion over the same period in 2020.

As for retailers, they were net buyers every day last week except last Friday, where net selling came to RM5.32 million. The largest net buying by retailers was recorded last Tuesday at RM98.42 million and the smallest net purchase was on Monday at RM26.42 million. Cumulatively, retailers recorded net buying of RM229.33 million local equities last week.

Meanwhile, local institutions were net sellers every day of the week except last Monday and Tuesday.

The cumulative weekly inflow was to the tune of RM10.48 million, with the biggest net buying on Tuesday at RM115.55 million and the smallest net buying on Monday at RM2.44 million.

Since the beginning of 2021, cumulatively, retailers have been the only net buyers of the local equity market to the tune of RM4.99 billion.

In contrast, local institutions and foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of RM3.47 billion and RM1.52 billion respectively. 

In terms of participation, retail investors, local institutions and foreign investors recorded a weekly decrease of 28.32% and 29.26% respectively in average daily trading value (ADTV), while the decrease was far more significant in foreign investors, which was down by 45.08%.

For the week ended March 26, the top three stocks with the highest net money inflows were Tenaga Nasional Bhd or TNB (which added RM4.84 million), Public Bank Bhd (RM3.58 million) and Malayan Banking Bhd or Maybank (RM2.74 million).

Meanwhile, the top three stocks with the highest net money outflows for the week were Genting Malaysia Bhd or GenM (-RM4.02 million), Genting Bhd (-RM3.7 million) and Bursa Malaysia Bhd (-RM2.55 million).