Foreign investors continued to reduce their holdings in local equities on Bursa Malaysia for the second consecutive week, although the pace of selling slowed down to RM113.5 million last week from RM153.4 million the previous week.
In its weekly fund flow report on Monday (Sept 4), MIDF Research reported that foreign investors had a mixed week. They made net purchases of RM12.1 million last Monday (Aug 28) and RM53.6 million last Tuesday but reversed their stance by selling a net of RM139.4 million last Wednesday and RM39.8 million last Friday.
The report highlighted that the top three sectors that attracted net foreign inflows were property (RM142.5 million), construction (RM40.4 million), and technology (RM30 million). On the other hand, the sectors with the highest net foreign outflows for the week were healthcare (RM144 million), industrial products and services (RM82.2 million), and consumer products and services (RM60.5 million).
For the year-to-date (YTD) period, MIDF noted that foreigners have net sold RM2.68 billion worth of Malaysian equities.
In contrast, local institutions maintained their net buying position for the third consecutive week, with a net buying amount of RM191.3 million last week. They briefly turned into net sellers on Tuesday with RM17.1 million in net sales but were net buyers on Monday (RM40 million), Wednesday (RM103.5 million), and Friday (RM64.8 million). YTD, local institutions have net bought RM3.23 billion worth of equities on Bursa Malaysia.
Meanwhile, local retail investors continued their trend of net selling, marking the eighth consecutive week of outflows. They had a net selling amount of RM77.8 million last week, with only a brief net buying position of RM35.9 million last Wednesday. They were net sellers on Monday (RM52.1 million), Tuesday (RM36.5 million), and Friday (RM25 million) as well. YTD, local retailers have net sold RM550.7 million.
In terms of participation, there was a significant increase in average daily trading volume among foreign investors by 94.3%, retail investors by 38.4%, and institutional investors by 44.9%.
Commenting on the international scene, MIDF noted that global markets rallied on the expectation that the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Sept 20 would result in a pause in interest rates. Additionally, the Chinese government rolled out stimulus measures to boost its economy.
