KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign investors remained active buyers last week with a net purchase of RM1.4 billion of domestic equities, nearly five times the RM299.6 million net bought in the previous week, said MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF).
In its fund flow report for the week ended Aug 23, 2024, MIDF said foreign investors were net buyers on every trading day except Friday, with the largest net foreign inflow – totalling RM574.9 million – occurring on Monday, when Malaysia announced that exports surged at the fastest pace in nearly two years.
Exports reached RM131.2 billion in July 2024, marking a 12.3% year-on-year increase. MIDF said there was a sell-off of RM1.6 million on Friday last week after four consecutive days of net buying.
“The sectors that recorded the highest net foreign inflow were financial services (RM1.30 billion), utilities (RM118.9 million), and telecommunication and media (RM54.8 million).
Meanwhile, the sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were technology (RM140.2 million), consumer products and services (RM50.2 million), and property (RM25.9 million),” it said in the report.
As for local institutions, MIDF said they were net sellers every trading day, continuing to offload domestic equities for the second consecutive week with a total net sale of RM1.12 billion.
Meanwhile, the local retailers only had a net purchase on Friday, totalling RM78.2 million, and they net sold a total of RM284.4 million during the week.
The average daily trading volume showed increases across all investor classes, where foreign investors recorded the highest increase at 35.8%, while local institutions and local retailers recorded increases of 33.1% and 19%, respectively, MIDF said.
