PETALING JAYA: Net foreign buying of Malaysian equities surged to RM1.06 billion for the week ended May 3, marking a 3.6-fold increase from RM292.2 million in the week before.
It was the strongest weekly net buying amount in two years, and foreign investors were net buyers every day, said MIDF Research.
“The last time Malaysia saw such heavy inflows was for the week ended March 18, 2022, at RM1.18 billion,“ it said in a note today.
According to MIDF Research, foreign investors net bought RM451.8 million on Monday, RM184.3 million on Tuesday, RM43 million on Thursday, and RM376.1 million on Friday.
It said the sectors that recorded the highest net foreign inflows were utilities (RM443.7 million), financial services (RM277.3 million), and telecommunications and media (RM140.4 million).
Meanwhile, the sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were energy (RM22.4 million), plantations (RM16.9 million), and property (RM10.4 million).
Meanwhile, MIDF Research said local institutions took a breather from their support for the local market when they net sold RM943.1 million last week, after net buying for nine straight weeks. They net sold every day last week, the firm said.
The research house said local retailers sustained their net selling streak for the eighth consecutive week totalling RM112.2 million.
In terms of participation, it said the average daily trading volume saw increases among all investor classes.
Foreign investors led with an increase of 22% while local institutional investors and local retail investors saw surges of 16.7% and 6.7% respectively, it added.
