KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 4): Local institutional investors net bought RM960.4 million in equities on Bursa Malaysia last week, a notable increase from RM244.6 million in the previous week, according to MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd.

In a fund flow report on Monday, the investment bank noted that local retailers became net buyers last week, purchasing RM49.4 million in equities after several weeks as net sellers.

Conversely, foreign investors continued to offload equities for the second consecutive week, recording a substantial outflow of RM1.01 billion — five times the RM196.2 million outflow seen in the previous week.

MIDF observed that foreign investors were net sellers every trading day last week, with the largest outflow occurring on Wednesday at RM473.9 million, just before the market closed for Deepavali on Thursday. 

“On the other days, the outflows ranged from RM71.5 million to RM346.2 million,” the research house said.

Local retailers experienced a decline in average daily trading volume of 10.8%, local institutions saw a decrease of 6.9%, while foreign investors saw an increase of 27.9%.

MIDF identified the sectors with the highest net foreign inflows as plantation (RM25.9 million), property (RM11.6 million), and real estate investment trusts (RM7.2 million).

In contrast, the sectors with the most significant net foreign outflows included financial services (RM600.2 million), utilities (RM190.9 million), and consumer goods (RM86 million).

Concluding October, foreign investors were net sellers of Asian equities across eight markets, with total outflows reaching US$15.6 billion (RM68.3 billion) — the highest since June 2022. 

This marks a stark reversal from a net foreign inflow of US$176.6 million in September.

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee