Net foreign outflow from Bursa jumps to RM556.9mil

KUALA LUMPUR: The net foreign outflow from Bursa Malaysia accelerated 64% over the week to RM556.9mil, in tandem with the Federal Reserve’s hawkish interest rate guidance.

Based on MIDF Research data, foreign investors net sold Malaysian equities on every trading day of the past week, with the highest net sales of RM183.1mil on Monday.

The dumping of equities was seen across the region as risk appetite was sapped by the expectation of ongoing rate hikes in global markets.

Of the eight Asian exchanges tracked by MIDF, foreign investors net sold US$2.44bil of Asian equities, which far exceeded the US$163.6mil in net inflow recorded in the prior week.

In Malaysia, the top three sectors that saw net foreign inflows were construction (RM67.9mil), technology (RM13.2mil) and transport and logistics (RM7.8mil).

Meanwhile, the sectors that recorded the highest net foreign outflows were financial services (RM359.5mil), industrial products and services (RM90.3mil) and consumer products and services (RM63.5mil).

Local institutions were seen backing local equities for a second straight week with a net purchase of RM461.3mil, which was 56% higher than in the previous week.

“Every trading day last week was a net buying day by the local institutions, with the heaviest inflow recorded on Monday at RM161.1mil,” said the research firm.

Year-to-date, local institutions have net bought RM1.2bil worth of domestic equities.

Local retailers meanwhile were net buyers for a third consecutive week with RM95.6mil net purchases.

Retailers have been net buyers of RM44.5mil of Bursa equities so far in 2023.

In terms of participation, there was a decrease in average daily trading volume (ADTV) among local retailers (-3.5%), local institutions (-14.7%) and foreign investors (-33.1%).