17 minutes
PETALING JAYA: Foreign funds turned net buyers on Bursa Malaysia last week after eight straight weeks of selling, according to MIDF Research.
Based on data from Bursa, foreign investors mopped up RM192.1 million net of local equities last week. So far in 2019, there has been 13 weeks of foreign net buying.
However, for the month of September, international investors have thus far sold RM86.5 million net, the lowest amongst the seven Asian markets monitored.
On a year-to-date basis, international funds have taken out RM7.43 billion worth of local equities from Bursa.
MIDF noted that Bursa had a solid start to the week after a three-day weekend as international funds flocked into the Malaysian market, buying RM197.3 million net on Tuesday.
“This is the highest foreign net inflow seen in a day since early June 2019, cheered by a rally on Wall Street amidst signs of progress in relation to trade talks between the US and China.”
On Wednesday, foreign investors continued to snap up local equities but at a slower pace of RM99.7 million net.
“This was in conformity with other markets under our coverage such as Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Taiwan. Optimism was stoked by China’s move to exempt 16 types of products originating from the US from additional retaliatory tariffs effective on September 17 with a one year validity period.”
However, MIDF said offshore investors took a breather on Thursday, disposing of RM49.9 million net of local equities.
“President Trump’s postponement of the 5% of extra tariffs on Chinese goods by two weeks was overshadowed by Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision to keep the overnight policy rate (OPR) unchanged at 3.0%.”
Foreign net selling activity continued on Friday at a slightly faster pace of RM55 million despite the aggressive move by the European Central Bank to cut interest rates further below zero.
In terms of participation, foreign investors experienced the largest weekly gain of 15.6% in the average daily traded value (ADTV) to breach the RM1 billion mark at RM1.15 billion.
