MIDF: Foreign selling of Malaysian equities surged to RM1.16b last week, highest in three years

(The Edge) – Foreign selling of Malaysian equities surged to RM1.16 billion last week, from a paltry RM44.7 million the prior week.

In its weekly fund flow report on Monday, MIDF Research said foreign investors net bought RM20.6 million last Monday, but net sold for the rest of the week, including RM39.3 million last Tuesday, RM397.6 million last Wednesday, RM410.6 million last Thursday, and RM336.3 million last Friday.

“The top three sectors with net foreign inflows for the week were utilities (RM86.2 million), construction (RM41.8 million), and property (RM21.9 million), while the top three sectors that recorded net foreign outflows were financial services (RM770.3 million), consumer products and services (RM246.5 million), and healthcare (RM159.8 million).

“Year-to-date, foreign investors have net sold RM3.13 billion on Bursa Malaysia,” it said.

MIDF said local institutions broke their three-week net selling streak with a net buy of RM1.05 billion, the highest net buying amount seen in three years since the week ended June 5, 2020, when they net bought RM1.18 billion.

It said year-to-date, local institutions had net bought RM3.63 billion of equities.

“They were net buying sectors such as financial services (RM678.5 million), healthcare (RM138.6 million), and consumer products and services (RM127.2 million).

“Local retailers continued to net buy domestic equities for the second consecutive week at RM114.4 million,” it said.

The research house said local retailers net bought every day except last Thursday, net selling RM22.6 million.

It said year-to-date, retailers had recorded net sales amounting to RM508.2 million.

“In terms of participation, there was an increase in the average daily trading volume among foreign investors by 2.4% last week, and 3.6% among local institutions, while local retailers saw a decline of 3.7%,” it said.

Commenting on the international scenario, MIDF said it was a week filled with turbulence, led by a sell-off in the bond market, which saw the US 10-year Treasury yield hitting its highest level since 2007.

It said at the same time, investors waited closely for the crucial non-farm payrolls numbers that was released on Friday.

“Among the 20 global indices we monitor, 15 registered weekly declines, while four advanced, with China’s CSI 300 being the only one that remained unchanged.

“Advancers were the Nasdaq Composite Index (1.60%), TAIEX (1.02%), the S&P 500 (0.48%), and the Sensex (0.25%).

“The most notable losers were the Nikkei 225 (2.71%), Kospi (2.29%), and Thailand’s SET (2.24%),” it said.