Highest amount of funds inflow seen in 17 weeks

KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign tide-in to Bursa Malaysia accelerated last week, marking the second consecutive week of inflows.

MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research) saw that foreigners were net buyers during the four-day trading week. To note, the local bourse was closed on Monday in conjunction with Malaysia’s outstanding achievements in the SEA Games.

“For the week, foreign funds mopped up RM362.6 million net – ten times more than the preceding week – based on transactions in the open market,” it said, added that this excluded off market deals.

The amount acquired by foreign funds last week was the highest in 17 weeks, it said.

“We note that foreign funds were net buyers on every single day of the week. Thursday recorded the highest inflow of RM153.1 million net, the highest in a day since July 13, coinciding with the strengthening ringgit and increasing Brent crude oil price.

“We also note that Malaysia’s inflow was in line with Thailand, bucking the trend in Asia which experienced an outflow.”

Last week’s foreign buying has brought the cumulative year-to-date net inflow to RM10.7 billion. Meanwhile, foreign participation rate was strong last week as the foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) surged by 29 per cent to reach above the RM1 billion mark for the first time in 10 weeks.

Gross trade for the week ranged from RM936 million to RM1.5 billion.

“Likewise, retail participation edged higher for the week. The retail ADTV increased by nine per cent to RM880 million, staying above RM800 million for six weeks in a row,” MIDF Research added.

Looking at the top money inflows of the week, PPB Group Bhd’ s stocks were the beneficiary of the highest net money inflow of RM5.68 million. This was followed in second place by Tenaga Nasional Bhd at RM5.40 million while AMMB Holdings Bhd saw the third highest inflow of RM3.72 million.