The top three sectors that saw net foreign inflows last week were consumer products and services (RM39.1 million), utilities (RM24.2 million) and energy (RM18.2 million), said MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research).
“Sentiments remain healthy, lifted by Anwar’s recent visit to China, which secured the commitment of RM170.07 billion of Chinese investments into several industries in Malaysia and also RM2.44 billion of potential exports to China,” it said.
Institutional investors returned as net buyers with a total of RM50.1 million, after briefly turning net sellers at -RM3.9 million the week before.
They net sold RM71.0 million on Thursday but were net buyers for the rest of the week, said MIDF Research in its Fund Flow Report for the week ended April 7, 2023.
“Year-to-date, institutional investors have been net buyers for 10 out of 14 weeks with a total of RM1.82 billion,” it said.
Local retailers, meanwhile, have been net sellers for the second consecutive week at -RM69.0 million. They net bought RM8.0 million on Thursday but were net sellers for the rest of the week.
They were net buyers for seven out of 14 weeks this year, with a total of RM22.9 million.
In terms of participation, there was a decline in average daily trading volume among local retailers by -5.8%, local institutions by -3.2% and foreign investors by -18.8%.
Foreign investors continue to seek refuge in Asia
The research house added that foreign investors continue to seek refuge in Asia as the net buying spree of equities in the region extended into its third consecutive week.
“Based on the provisional aggregate data for the eight exchanges that we tracked, investors classified as ‘foreigners’ net bought US$146.8 million (RM647.24 million) worth of Asian equities though at a much slower pace, amounting to only 8% of the net bought amount the week prior at US$1.86 billion (RM8.20 billion) due to the holiday-shortened trading week in most countries,” it said.
The weekly flows were mixed, with four countries recording net foreign inflows and four countries with net foreign outflows.
India took the lead for the week with a net foreign inflow of US$455.6 million (RM2.01 billion) despite a three-day trading week due to public holidays.
Closer to home, Indonesia maintained its positive momentum for the seventh consecutive week with a net inflow of US$183.3 million (RM808.2 million) as its inflation cooled down to a seven-month low of 5% year-on-year in March 2023 (February 2023: 5.5%).
After six weeks of net foreign outflows, Thailand saw some respite with a net inflow of US$24 million (RM105.8 million) last week.