KUALA LUMPUR: Local institutions continued to support Bursa Malaysia for the ninth consecutive week, recording net equity purchases of RM1.05 billion last week, according to MIDF Research.
This was an increase from the net inflow of RM995.5 million in the preceding week.
Foreign investors, however, extended their selling streak by registering a net outflow of RM1.07 billion, the MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd unit said in its its fund flow report for the week ending Dec 20.
The sectors that recorded the highest net foreign inflows were property (RM42.6 million), technology (RM40.2 million), and plantation (RM29.4 million), MIDF Research said.
Meanwhile, the sectors that saw the most net foreign outflows were financial services (RM500.5 million), healthcare (RM168.9 million), and utilities (RM160.5 million), it added.
The research house said that in the week under review, local retailers turned net buyers with RM13.8 million in net purchases after four consecutive weeks of net selling.
The average daily trading volume showed growth across all investor categories last week, MIDF Research said.
“Local retail investors and foreign investors recorded double-digit increases, rising by 10.2% and 20.9%, respectively; while local institutional investors saw a more modest increase of 5.7%,” it said.
Across Asia, foreign investors maintained a net selling trend last week across the eight markets tracked by MIDF Research, with total outflow of US$4.7 billion (RM21.1 billion) , a figure which is 2.6 times higher than in the previous week.
The majority of the outflows were concentrated in Taiwan and South Korea, the research house said.
Taiwan recorded the highest net foreign outflow at US$2.24 billion, marking the second consecutive week of net selling, after Taiwan’s central bank maintained its policy interest rate at 2% and raised its 2024 economic growth forecast to 4.25% from 3.82%.
Meanwhile, it said, foreign investors shifted to net selling in South Korea at US$1.61 billion, a sharp reversal from the net buying of US$28.6 million recorded the previous week, as the country’s central bank chief stated that the economic impact of political turmoil will be limited. – Bernama
