Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Foreign selling of Malaysian equity swelled almost nine times to RM774.1 million last week, from RM87.6 million the prior week, according to MIDF Research.

In his weekly fund flow report today, MIDF Research’s Adam M Rahim said foreign investors have so far taken out RM11.08 billion net of local equities from Malaysia.

“In comparison to its other six Asian peers that we monitor, Malaysia remains as the nation with the third smallest foreign net outflow on a year-to-date basis after Indonesia and the Philippines,” he said.

Adam said Monday saw the highest net outflow as international funds offloaded RM319.9 million net of local equities, the largest in a day since mid-March this year.

He said market sentiment was hurt by rising tensions between Washington and Beijing after U.S. President Donald Trump hinted over the weekend that he could impose new tariffs on Chinese goods because of the claim that China lacked transparency on the coronavirus.

“Foreign net selling activity dipped on Tuesday to RM96.5 million, coinciding with Bank Negara Malaysia’s 50 basis points cut in its key interest rate to a 10-year low of 2.0%.

“The local bourse reacted positively by closing 0.9% at 1,376.9 points on the same day,” he said.

Adam said the momentum of foreign net outflow accelerated on Wednesday to RM247.9 million as investors booked profits ahead of Thursday’s public holiday.

He said as markets reopened from the public holiday, foreign funds on Friday continued to sell local equities but at a slower pace of RM109.8 million net.

“Investors cheered a call between Washington and Beijing that eased tensions and wagered that moves to open up economies after coronavirus lockdowns will succeed.

“In terms of participation, foreign investors were the only investor group which recorded a weekly decline in its average daily traded value (ADTV),” he said.

Adam said the ADTV of foreign investors decreased by 10.3% for the week to reach below RM1 billion at RM903 million, the lowest in 16 weeks.

Among the top 10 money outflows were Malayan Banking Bhd, Public Bank Bhd and Maxis Bhd, said Adam.

#dudukrumahdiamdiam and get the news at theedgemarkets.com.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share