Bursa Malaysia

Foreign investors make a comeback on Bursa Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign funds acquired RM25.5mil net of local equities last week, bringing the nine-weeks of foreign net selling to an end.

In its weekly fund flow, MIDF Research said Monday recorded a foreign net outflow of RM86.3mil, the highest in nine trading days while the local bourse gained 0.56% to close at 1,679 points.

The level of foreign net selling slightly eased on the next day to US$75.9mil.

“Wednesday was the turning point for the week as foreign investors bought RM16.4m net, snapping three days of foreign selling. This was in conformity with other Asian peers that we track such as Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines.

“The return of foreign investors to Malaysia was inevitable amidst the regional upbeat sentiment from the three-day discussion between the U.S. and China,” MIDF said.

The research house said foreign investors gradually increased their holdings on stocks listed on Bursa thereafter until the foreign net buying level reached RM106.7mil on Friday itself.

“This is the highest daily foreign net inflow in nearly a month with much of the support not just coming from the progress in U.S.-China trade relations, but also the advance in Brent crude oil prices amidst growing optimism over OPEC production cuts,” it said.

So far in 2019, foreign funds bought RM7.2mil net or US$1.9mil net of local equities.

MIDF said in comparison to the other two Asean peers it monitor, namely the Philippines and Indonesia, Malaysia has the lowest foreign net inflow on a year-to-date basis.

Meanwhile, Thailand is the only Asean peer with a foreign net outflow amounting to US$175.7mil.

The average daily traded value(ADTV) for foreign investors jumped by more than 80% for the week to reach RM1.2bil, the highest in six weeks.

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2019/01/14/foreign-investors-make-a-comeback-on-bursa-malaysia/#tMFyu7bzdcmebkTB.99