MIDF Research said foreign selling of local equities rose to RM843.2 million last week from RM774.1 million disposed in the week before.
According to MIDF Research’s weekly fund flow report today, it revealed that in comparison to its other six Asian peers, Malaysia remains as the nation with the third smallest foreign net outflow on a year-to-date basis after Indonesia and the Philippines. Foreign investors have so far taken out RM11.9 billion net of local equities from Malaysia.
On Tuesday when markets reopened after last weeks public holiday, foreign investors sold RM159.9 million on growing worries about a second wave of Covid-19 infections after the city of Wuhan lifted its lockdown.
Trading volume on Bursa skyrocketed to a record of 9.6 billion shares on Wednesday amidst interest in healthcare related counters sparked by a possible second wave of Covid-19 infections.
The local stock barometer closed 1.3 percent higher on the same day, supported by the RM275.0 million purchase of equities by local institutions. Meanwhile, foreign net selling activity inched higher on to RM239.6 million.
“The momentum of foreign net outflow accelerated on Thursday to RM334.6 million, after overnight Wall Street declines and generally headed south as investors weighed economies wracked by the tenacious COVID-19 pandemic and cautious commentary Wednesday by US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell,” according to MIDF research house.
Friday also witnessed a slowdown in foreign net selling to RM109.0 million amidst the rise in China’s industrial output for the fi rst time since the Covid-19 outbreak.
Industrial output rose 3.9 percent from a year earlier, reversing a drop of 1.1 percent in March.
The research house also said in terms of participation, all investor groups saw a weekly increase in their average daily traded value (ADTV). Foreign investors recorded the smallest weekly gain in ADTV of 44.1 percent to return above the healthy RM1 billion mark.
