June saw RM1.35 billion of outflow from Malaysia equities as foreign selling persisted for the 10th consecutive month, said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) in a recent report.
“This lifted their net sell for the six months of 2023 to RM4.19 billion which reversed their net buy in 2022 of RM4.4 billion,” said Maybank IB.
June’s selling was almost daily, in 19 out of 20 trading days. Market foreign holding has fallen below 20%, to 19.9% as at 30 Jun; this is a new low since the global financial crisis.
Domestic institutions bought RM1.03 billion in June, lifting their net buy for the six months of 2023 to RM3.73 billion. Retail investors bought RM0.31 billion , bringing their year-to-date net buy to RM0.46 billion.
Foreign investors’ trade participation (ex-DBT) was higher month-on-month at 33%; DI was 39.9% and retail was 27.2%. Equity ADV fell below RM2 billion, to RM1.9 billion in June; six months of 2023 was RM2.1 billion.
Across ASEAN, foreign selling was the largest in Indonesia equities (-USD0.293 billion) in June, followed by Malaysia (-USD0.291 billion) and Thailand (-USD0.263 billion); smaller in Vietnam (-USD0.016 billion); net buy in Philippines (+USD0.097 billion).
For the six months of 2023, foreign outflow was the largest from Thailand equities (-USD3.11 billion), followed by Malaysia (- USD0.93 billion), Philippines (-USD0.47billion) and Vietnam (-USD0.01 billion); net buy in Indonesia (+USD1.09 billion). For Malaysia, the total foreign net buy/(sell) for 12 months to Jun 2023, as % of market capitalisation, was -0.4%.
“Based on Dibots data, the top 5 stocks in Malaysia sold by foreign investors in June were Public Bank, Petronas Chemicals, CIMB, Tenaga and HL Bank, while their top buys were Maybank, Gamuda, YTL Corp, Westports and Malaysia Airports,” said Maybank IB.
Year-to-date, foreign top sells were Public Bank, CIMB, Petronas Chemicals, Tenaga and RHB Bank, while their top buys were Gamuda, Malaysia Airports, CelcomDigi, YTL and Velesto.
Foreign demand for RM bonds picked up pace in May 2023 which bucked the trend of the sharp RM depreciation. This is the 5th consecutive month of foreign net buying and the RM3 billion inflow doubled from RM1.5 billion in April.
Total foreign holdings climbed to RM262.7 billion, near the record high of RM263.2 billion set in Feb 2022. year-to-date cumulative inflows for all RM bonds totaled RM15.9 billion in the five months of 2023. Foreign shares of MGS and MGS+GII rose slightly to 36% and 23.2% respectively.
“Offsetting the RM0.73 billion net sell in Malaysia equities in May, total portfolio flow was +RM2.3 billion in May. This lifted the cumulative portfolio flow for the five months of 2023 to RM13.1 billion,” said Maybank IB.
