PETALING JAYA: Offshore investors made a modest return to Bursa last week as foreign investors snapped up RM184.6 million net of local equities compared with a RM276.6 million outflow in the previous week, after four straight weeks of sell-off, according to MIDF Research.
It said the local bourse saw a moderate foreign net outflow of RM10.7 million on Monday supported by the positive sentiments from the agreement between Washington and Beijing on the outlines of a partial trade accord as well as the Malaysian Budget 2020.
Foreign net selling inched higher to RM21.3 million as investors searched for further signs of a concrete trade deal to sustain their optimism.
However, Wednesday saw the highest foreign buying during the week as offshore investors accumulated RM187.1 million net of local equities, leading the local bourse to close 0.6% higher at a two-week high of 1,574.9 points.
“Investors cheered China’s US$28 billion cash injection into its financial system while Hong Kong unveiled measures to bolster growth.”
MIDF said the foreign inflow continued on Thursday at a pace of RM107.9 million despite the weak US retail sales that added to expectations of interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.
However, it noted that the mood turned sombre on Friday as foreign investors sold RM78.3 million net of local equities as China reported the slowest economic expansion in nearly three decades on weaker investments and factory output.
So far in October 2019, foreign funds have taken out RM790.4 million net of local equities from Bursa.
Meanwhile, on a year-to-date basis, international investors have sold RM8.69 billion worth of local equities from Bursa, making up 74.3% of last year’s foreign net outflow of RM11.69 million.
In terms of participation, foreign investors saw the largest increase in average daily traded value of 43.6% to reach above the RM1 billion mark for the first time in four weeks.
