KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign buying of Malaysian equities surged to RM1.06 billion last week, marking a 3.6-fold increase from RM292.2 million the week before. 

Throughout the week, MIDF Research said it was the strongest weekly net buying amount in two years, and foreign investors were net buyers every day.

"The last time Malaysia saw such heavy inflows was the week ended March 18, 2022, at RM1.18 billion," it said in a note.

According to MIDF, foreign investors net bought RM451.8 million on Monday, RM184.3 million on Tuesday, RM43.0 million on Thursday, and RM376.1 million on Friday.

It said the sectors that recorded the highest net foreign inflows were utilities (RM443.7 million), financial services (RM277.3 million), and telecommunications and media (RM140.4 million).

"The sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were energy (RM22.4 million), plantations (RM16.9 million), and property (RM10.4 million)," it said.

Meanwhile, MIDF said local institutions took a breather from their strong support for the local market when they net sold RM943.1 million last week, after net buying for nine straight weeks. 

They net sold every day last week, the firm said.

On local retailers, MIDF said they sustained their net selling streak for the eighth consecutive week, totaling RM112.2 million.

In terms of participation, it said the average daily trading volume (ADTV) saw increases among all investor classes. 

Foreign investors led with an increase of 22.0 per cent while local institutional investors and local retail investors saw surges of +16.7 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively, it added. 

https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2024/05/1046799/midf-foreign-buying-local-equities-surged-rm106bil-last-week