It was a shortened trading week of four days on Bursa Malaysia last week due to the public holiday on Monday that was announced by newly-minted Prime Minister YAB Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Foreign investors remained net sellers for the third consecutive week at a rate of -RM301.2m, which was 3.7 times higher than -RM81.9m the previous week.
They took profit after a meteoric rise of the barometer FBM KLCI in the week prior when Anwar was named Prime Minister, net selling every day of the week except on Thursday when they net bought RM77.7m. The heaviest net selling was on
Friday at -RM292.8m as uncertainty loomed over the delay in the Cabinet line-up announcement, which was eventually revealed on the same night. Foreign investors also net sold -RM10.7m on Tuesday and -RM75.4m on Wednesday.
The top three sectors which saw net inflows by foreign investors last week were Technology at RM72.8m, Utilities at RM40.3m and Construction at RM39.4m. Meanwhile, the three sectors with net outflows were Financial Services at -RM153.5m, Healthcare at -RM128.1m and Industrial Products & Services at -RM101.5m.
Local institutions came on strong to pick up on the buying opportunity amidst a more stabilised political arena with the formation of a unity government. They net bought RM431.2m last week, the highest since the week ended Sep 30, 2022 at RM669.2m. They started the week net selling -RM10.7m before turning net buyers for the remaining days, recording the strongest net buy on Friday at RM301.5m.
Local retailers turned net sellers for the week, reversing their net buying trend after two weeks with net selling of -RM130.1m. They net bought RM21.4m on Tuesday before turning net sellers from Wednesday to Friday. The highest net selling was on Thursday at -RM128.4m.
International investors have been net buyers for 26 out of the 48 weeks of 2022, with a total net inflow of RM5.53b. Local institutions were net sellers for 32 out of 48 weeks, with a total net outflow of –RM7.57b. Local retailers have been net buyers for 30 out of 48 weeks. Year-to-date, they have been net buyers at RM2.04b.
In terms of participation, there was an increase in average daily trading volume (ADTV) among foreign investors and local institutions by +61.6% and +7.6% respectively while retailers saw a decline of -10.5%.
