Thailand
Malaysia: Foreign inflows take a breather
KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign inflows into stocks listed on Bursa took a breather last week but marked its fourth week of inflows, the longest streak since the week ended Dec 29, 2017 to Feb 2, according to MIDF Research.
“Based on preliminary data from Bursa which excluded off market deals, the net amount acquired by foreign investors last week amounted to RM24.6mil net, the second lowest weekly inflow so far this year,” MIDF said in its weekly fund flow report.
The research house said it was a modest start to the week as foreign investors bought RM35.9mil net of local equities on Monday.
However, panic conquered markets on Tuesday fueled by worries of increasing U.S Treasury yields could prompt more outflows from emerging markets.
As a consequence, global funds withdrew RM191.4mil net of equities on Tuesday, the highest since March 28. The FBM KLCI followed suit to decline the most in two weeks by 0.80% on the same day.
Although concerns on rising U.S Treasury yields continue to linger, attrition on Bursa gradually receded thereafter until RM9.20mil net on Thursday, buoyed by stable crude oil prices.
Global investors returned strongly to Malaysia on Friday, snapping up RM277.3mil net while the FBM KLCI was back above 1,860 points after two days remaining below that level.
“Among the four Asean exchanges we track, Malaysia was the only beneficiary of inflows that day.
“We opine that investors took cue from the positive vibes of the meeting between the two Koreas which also attracted the comeback of foreign funds into North Asia,namely South Korea and Taiwan,” MIDF said.
With only one-trading day left, April is set to be the first month of inflows since January 2018 as the month-to-date figure shows an inflow of RM1.26bil net. This brings the year-to-date inflow to RM3.46mil net.
Foreign participation remained robust as the average daily trade value (ADTV) stood above the RM1bilil level for the 16th week this year.
The retail market meanwhile took a hit as its ADTV reached the lowest in 10 weeks at RM772.8mil.
Meanwhile, Genting Malaysia Bhd registered the highest net money inflow of RM27.42mil last week.
Tenaga Nasional Bhd recorded the second highest net money inflow of RM9.55mil while British American Tobacco Bhd saw the third highest net money inflow of RM9.48mil.
On the other hand, Maybank saw the largest net money outflow of RM32.91mil last week.
Petronas Chemicals Bhd recorded the second largest net money outflow of RM17.03mil while Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd registered the third largest net money outflow at RM13.78mil last week.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2018/04/30/foreign-inflows-take-a-breather/#2okO0JoOryUOE1Gq.99