Foreign investors made their mark in Bursa Malaysia last week by investing RM11.5 Million worth of equities, after four consecutive weeks of seeing net foreign outflows.
Last Monday (March 27) saw a net foreign outflow of -RM80.1 mil.
The sentiment improved from Tuesday (March 28) onwards with the Statistics Department’s data showing that the producer price index (PPI) shrank by -0.8% year-on-year (yoy) in February 2023 against a +1.3% yoy growth in January, according to MIDF Research.
“The contraction was attributed to the base effect and lower prices of primary commodities. In addition, worries that stemmed from the bank turmoil in US and Europe seem to have eased, resulting in better sentiment,” justified the research house in its weekly fund flow report.
Friday (March 31) saw the highest net foreign inflow of RM59.6 mil while the lowest net buying was on Tuesday (March 28) at RM1.0 mil. Year-to-date (YTD), foreigners have net sold -RM1.87 bil worth of equities.
The top three sectors that saw net foreign inflows last week were financial services (RM51.5 mil), technology (RM22.6 mil) and healthcare (RM16.8 mil) while the top three sectors that saw net foreign outflows were utilities (-RM54.3 mil), REITs (-RM15.6 mil) and energy (-RM13.3 mil).
Meanwhile, local institutions turned net sellers last week to the tune of -RM3.9 mil. It was a mixed trading week for them with inflows seen on Monday (March 27) at RM39.2 mil and Wednesday (March 29) at RM29.6 mil but the rest of the week posted outflows.
The highest outflow was recorded on Friday (March 31) at -RM37.3 mil. YTD, local institutions have net bought RM1.77 bil worth of equities.
Local retailers also turned net sellers last week after they net sold -RM7.6 mil worth of equities. The week started off strong with inflows recorded on Monday (March 27) at RM41.0 mil and Tuesday (March 28) at RM12.8 mil with the remaining three days of the week recorded outflows.
The highest outflow was posted on Wednesday (March 29) at -RM34.6 mil. YTD, local retailers have net bought RM91.9 mil worth of equities from the local bourse.
In terms of participation, there was a decline in average daily trading volume (ADTV) among local retailers by -12.5%, local institutions (-13.9%) and foreign investors (-12.3%).
In comparison with another four Southeast Asian markets tracked by MIDF Research last week, Indonesia posted the highest net foreign fund inflow with US$197.3 mil followed by the Philippines (US$50.2 mil) and Malaysia (US$2.6 mil) while Thailand posted the highest outflow at -US$58.3 mil followed by Vietnam (-US$6.2 mil).
The top three stocks with the highest net money inflow from foreign investors last week were My EG Services Bhd (MyEG) (RM30.7 mil), CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (RM29.5 mil) and MR DIY Group (M) Bhd (RM28.2 mil).
