Global funds continue to buy on Bursa last week
KUALA LUMPUR: Global funds continued to make their way to Malaysian shores for the third consecutive week.
Based on preliminary data from Bursa which excluded off market trades, the amount acquired by international investors soared above RM300 million for the first time in 12 weeks, unveiled MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research).
“To be exact, RM337.7 million of Malaysian equities were bought last week, higher than the RM272.3 million net seen in the preceding week,” it said in a report yesterday.
“Last week, foreign investors were net buyers on every single day, extending the daily buying binge to nine-straight days as of last Friday, and also the longest in nearly seven months.”
It noted that global investors started the week strong by mopping up RM89.5 million as riskon mood improved following the passage of a Senate tax bill in the preceding weekend.
“However, foreign buying took a hit on Tuesday as it went down to RM20.8 million net despite the FBM KLCI reaching a two-week high of 1,724 points amid the improvement in corporate earnings in the third quarter of 2017 (3Q17),” it added.
MIDF Research said it is noteworthy that foreign funds gradually increased their exposure in Malaysian stocks thereafter. Most importantly, foreign buying peaked on Friday at RM159.5 million net, the largest acquisition in a day since November 23.
“It was of no surprise as the mood on the local bourse was rekindled by outstanding Chinese trade data coupled with a rally staged by Malaysian banking stocks,” it added. “We notice that the foreign inflow into Bursa continues to buck the trend of its Asian peers.
The second week of inflow has brought the year-to-date foreign purchase nearer to the RM10 billion level at RM9.71 billion. In the past 49 weeks, Malaysia has experienced 33 weeks of foreign inflows compared to 26 weeks in 2016.
Foreign participation remained elevated last week as the foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) stayed above RM1b at RM1.32 billion while retail ADTV was still subdued at RM805 million.
Looking at top net money inflows, Tenaga Nasional Bhd registered the highest net money inflow of RM29.80 million last week.
This was followed by Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd with RM28.94 million and British American Tobacco Bhd with RM4.82 million.
On the other end of the spectrum, F&N Holdings Bhd again saw the largest net money outflow of RM38.43 million last week. CIMB Group Holdings Bhd recorded the second largest net money outflow of RM34.89 million during the week under review, while IGB Corporation Bhd came in third place with a RM7.37 million outflow.