Foreign Funds Sell RM1.75bil Of Malaysian Shares

Foreign Funds Sell RM1.75bil Of Malaysian Shares - There was an exodus of foreign funds from stocks listed on Bursa after six straight weeks of buying, according to MIDF Research.  

“Based on preliminary data from Bursa which excluded off market deals, international investors withdrew RM1.75bil net of local equities last week, wiping off around 92% of the net inflows worth RM1.92bil accumulated in the previous three weeks.

“In fact, this was the first weekly attrition in seven weeks and the highest since the August 2013, the year of the 13th General Election,” MIDF said in its weekly fund flow report.

The research house said foreign funds were net sellers on all five trading days last week.

MIDF said the came to no surprise as investors fled from equities spooked by the rise in U.S bond yields in the week before and following Wall Street’s turmoil on Monday

Thereafter, foreign selling levels normalised to levels ranging from RM130mil-RM160mil net on Wednesday and Thursday as investors shrugged off data which showed Malaysia’s exports rose at a much slower pace for the second straight month following overnight gains on Wall Street.

However, foreign selling rose back to a high level of RM323.3mil net on Friday as Dow Jones declined by more than 1,000 points for the second time in a week.

“Despite the accelerated momentum of selling activity, foreigners have mopped up RM1.86bil net during the first six weeks of 2018 compared to RM612.8mil net during the same period in 2017,” MIDF said.

It noted that foreign participation remained vibrant as the foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) stood at RM1.6bil marking its sixth week of being above the RM1bil threshold.

Meanwhile, the strong foreign selling momentum paved the way for local fund managers to acquire RM1.8bil net, a level not seen since November 2016

Hong Leong Financial Group registered the highest net money inflow of RM11.62mil last week. Petronas Chemicals Bhd recorded the second highest net money inflow of RM9.31mil while IHH Healthcare saw the third highest net money inflow of RM8.84mil.

On the other hand, Public Bank Bhd saw the largest net money outflow of RM25.58mil last week. Dutch Lady recorded the second largest net money outlflow of RM17.66mil while Inari Amerton registered the third largest net money outflow of RM8.08mil.