Foreign capital outflow stands at RM8.6b

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is experiencing only the second lowest foreign capital outflow in Asean despite its year-to-date (YTD) outflow standing at RM8.6 billion as of last Friday.

MIDF Research said global portfolio investors left Bursa Malaysia last week after two weeks of buying, noting that so far this month, foreign net outflow was RM128.6 million.

“Based on preliminary data from the local bourse, which excluded off market deals, international funds offloaded RM631.4 million net worth of local equities, wiping out the foreign net inflow of RM458.2 million recorded earlier in the week,” it said in a fund flow report yesterday.

The research firm said offshore investors sold RM142.3 million of equities on Monday, as the currency crisis in Turkey rippled across emerging markets.

“It came as no surprise that local stocks with exposure to Turkey such as Malaysia Airports Holdings and IHH Healthcare declined the most, with losses of more than 5.0 per cent,” it added.

MIDF Research said the level of foreign net attrition tapered off on Tuesday and Wednesday to RM127.1 million and RM85.4 million, respectively, as the Turkish lira rebounded from Monday’s massive drop.

The research house said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index followed suit to advance on the two days, while other regional markets such as Thailand and Hong Kong were in the red zone.

However, foreign net selling activity gradually accelerated on Thursday and Friday to RM127.9 million and RM148.7 million, respectively.

MIDF Research said participation among foreign investors had been active this year, as the weekly average daily traded value (ADTV) reached above RM1 billion for 31 out of 33 weeks.

The weekly ADTV of the retail market and local institutional funds remained healthy, above RM800 million and RM2 billion, respectively, despite the drop last week.