KUALA LUMPUR (April 10): Foreign buying of Malaysian equity on Bursa Malaysia ticked up to RM18.8 million last week, from RM11.5 million the prior week.

In his weekly fund flow report on Monday (April 10), MIDF Research’s Royce Tan Seng Hooi said that it was a rather mixed trading week with a negative bias among foreign investors, as they net sold for four out the five trading days. However, the net buying of RM63.0 million on Thursday cushioned the net selling for the rest of the week.

“Foreign investors net sold RM150,000 on Monday, RM14.9 million on Tuesday, RM24.4 milllion on Wednesday and RM4.7 million on Friday.

“Thursday was the only day with net inflows, which saw the bulk of foreign funds flowing into blue chips, namely Petronas Gas Bhd, QL Resources Bhd and Public Bank Bhd,” he said.

Tan said sentiments remain healthy, lifted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’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.

“Top three sectors that saw net foreign inflows last week were Consumer Products & Services (RM39.1 million), Utilities (RM24.2 million) and Energy (RM18.2 milllion), while the top three sectors that saw net foreign outflows were Financial Services (RM39.1 million), Healthcare (RM30.2 million) and Technology (RM16.9 million).

“Year-to-date, foreigners have net sold Malaysian equities for nine out of 14 weeks, totalling RM1.86 billion,” he said.

Tan 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.

He said they net sold RM71.0 million on Thursday but were net buyers for the rest of the week.

“Year-to-date, institutional investors have been net buyers for 10 out of 14 weeks, with a total of RM1.82 billion.

“Local retailers net sold for the second consecutive week at RM69.0 milllion. They net bought RM8.0 million on Thursday but were net sellers for the rest of the week. They have net bought 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 (ADTV) among local retailers by 5.8%, local institutions by 3.2% and foreign investors by 18.8%.

Commenting on the international scene, Tan said global markets entered the second quarter of the year rather mixed amid sentiment-dampening newsflow and lingering concerns of a slowdown, but hopeful of earlier than expected US Fed pivot.

He said it was a shortened trading week last week, in conjunction with the Good Friday holiday in most major countries and a rather timely one, which allowed investors to digest the data of a cooling labour market, alongside other developments earlier in the week.

“The S&P 500 declined -0.1% for the week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.63%.

“The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1.1%, dragged by the slump in Tesla’s share price that took a 10.6% hit for the week, as its deliveries in the first quarter fell short of expectations despite it being a record number. The electric car giant also slashed its prices overnight to support demand,” he said.