In its weekly Fund Flow Report today, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF) said foreign investors were net sellers for the whole week except on Tuesday, when they bought RM17.2 million worth of stocks.
The heaviest outflow observed was on Thursday at RM196.3 million.
“Regionally, foreign investors remained net sellers of Asian equities for the fourth straight week, almost at par with the amount they disposed of the previous week,” the brokerage said.
It also noted that local institutions turned net buyers for the week at RM182.7 million after net selling RM7.9 million the week before.
“They were net sellers on Monday and Tuesday at RM11.9 million and RM29.6 million, respectively, before turning into net buyers on Wednesday and Thursday at RM69.7 million and RM167.4 million, respectively.
“They then net sold again at a rate of RM12.9 million on Friday,” the research house said.
It said local retailers maintained their net buying spree throughout the week, snapping up RM137.5 million worth of equities, with the highest net buying seen on Monday at RM44.6 million.
To date, international funds had been net buyers for 17 out of the 26 weeks of 2022, with a total net inflow of RM6.07 billion; while local institutions were net sellers for 20 out of 26 weeks, with a total net outflow of RM7.81 billion.
Local retailers had been net buyers for 17 out of 26 weeks of 2022, with net buying at RM1.74 billion.
Sector-wise, the industrial products and services, technology and energy segments saw the highest net foreign outflow at RM124.6 million, RM83 million and RM60.1 million, respectively, while the biggest net buying by foreigners was recorded in the utilities sector at RM19.6 million, it said.
In terms of participation, MIDF said the average daily trading value (ADTV) among foreign investors grew by 10.14%, while both the retail and institutional investors saw declines in ADTV for the week by 7.56% and 13.85%, respectively.
Globally, MIDF said the pullback in global markets came back into play last week after posting strong gains the previous week, in view of the tug of war of sentiments on inflation, economic slowdown and concerns about whether actions taken by monetary policymakers would trigger a recession.
It noted that benchmark indexes on Wall Street pared part of the gains made in the previous week, amid weaker manufacturing activities and consumer spending data.
“The S&P500 lost 2.21% for the week to finish at 3,825.33 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 1.28% to 31,097.26 points,” it noted.