FOREIGN investors were active buyers again last week, purchasing a net total of RM1.4 bil in domestic equities which is nearly five times the RM299.6 bil that they net bought the previous week.

This came on the back of Malaysia’s exports which surged at their fastest pace in nearly two years, driven by strong demand for commodities and electronics along with higher shipment to advanced economies.

All in all, exports reached RM131.2 bil in July 2024, marking a +12.3% year-on-year (yoy) increase.

“Foreign investors were net buyers on every trading day except for Friday (Aug 23) when there was a sell-off of -RM1.6 mil,” observed MIDF Research in its weekly fund flow report. “The largest net foreign inflow occurred on Monday (Aug 19) totalling RM574.9 mil.”

The sectors that recorded the highest net foreign inflow were financial services (RM1.30 bil), utilities (RM118.9 mil) and telecommunication & media (RM54.8 mil), while the sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were technology (-RM140.2 mil), consumer products & services (-RM50.2 mil) and property (-RM25.9 mil).

On the contrary, local institutions were net sellers every trading day as they continued to offload domestic equities for the second consecutive week with a total net sale of RM1.12 bil.

Local retailers only had a net purchase on Friday (Aug 23) at RM78.2 mil but were net sellers for the remainder of the week. Overall, they were net sellers totalling -RM284.4 mil.

The average daily trading volume (ADTV) showed increases across all investor classes. Foreign investors recorded the highest increase at +35.8% while local institutions and local retailers recorded increases of +33.1% and +19.0% respectively.

In comparison with another four Southeast Asian markets tracked by MIDF Research, Indonesia saw a continuous ninth week of net foreign inflow at US$532.4 mil as its central bank decided to maintain interest rates on Wednesday (Aug 21) while the Philippines reported its second consecutive week of net foreign inflow totalling US$112.6 mil last week.

However, foreign investors became net sellers of Thai equities with a net outflow of -US$171.1 mil after having been net buyers for the previous two weeks while Vietnam posted a net foreign outflow of -US$30.1 mil, reversing the inflow recorded the previous week.

The top three stocks with the highest net money inflow from foreign investors last week were Public Bank Bhd (RM389.6 mil), Malayan Banking Bhd (RM299.8 mil) and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (RM250.3 mil). - Aug 26, 2024.

https://focusmalaysia.my/heavy-net-inflow-surpassing-rm1b-by-foreign-funds-last-week-buoyed-by-surging-export-figures/