PETALING JAYA: Offshore investors returned to Bursa Malaysia last week, snapping up RM320.9 million net of local equities, the largest weekly foreign net inflow in 32 weeks, said MIDF Research.
This compares with the RM10.9 million net selling in the week before.
The research house said the week started off “sombre” as foreign funds disposed of RM27.3 million net of local equities on Monday. Foreign outflow continued on the following day, albeit at a slower pace of RM8.3 million.
“Monday’s rally on Wall Street driven by waning tensions in the Middle East put a lid on selling activity that day.”
On Wednesday, the vibe turned positive as international funds flocked into Bursa at a tune of RM41.4 million ahead of the signing of the “phase one” trade deal between the US and China. This was despite the fact that there will be no roll back on existing tariffs on China.
Foreign net buying activity picked up further to reach RM57.7 million net on Thursday.
“The deal commits China to do more to crack down on the theft of American technology and corporate secrets by its companies and state entities, while outlining a US$200 billion spending spree to close its trade imbalance with the US,” said MIDF.
On Friday, foreign fund inflow surged to RM257.2 million, the largest in a day since late May 2019, with the positivity coming from China’s GDP growth which reassured investors over the relative health of the country.
On a month-on-month basis, January 2020 has seen a net foreign inflow of RM491.1 million.
Compared to the three other Asean markets tracked by MIDF, Malaysia has the smallest foreign net inflow on a year-to-date basis after Indonesia while Thailand and the Philippines have been recording foreign net outflow.
In terms of participation, the average daily traded value (ADTV) of foreign investors on Bursa increased 14.5% year-on-year during the week.
However, the ADTV was still below the healthy level of RM1 billion at RM892.1 million.
