KUCHING: Foreign funds’ continuous buying last month amounted to RM1.47 billion, lifting the cumulative year-to-date number to breach the RM10 billion mark at RM10.14 billion.
This came as foreign funds remained net buyers of Malaysian stocks by virtue of the heavy purchases last week.
“There was some outflow in the first three days of the week as the month of May came to a close.
“However the amount was small, not exceeding RM100 million per day, reflecting incremental changes in the MSCI weightings affecting Malaysia.
“The selling reversed on Thursday and by Friday, foreign investors returned in full force,” explained researchers at MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research) in its funds flow report yesterday.
For the week, MIDF Research saw that foreign investors acquired RM215.8 million net in the open market (excluding off market deals), compared with RM223.7 million accumulated the week before.
Although the amount was still relatively modest, the foreign buying streak has now stretched to 17 straight weeks.
Foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) surged to RM1.95 billion, the highest since a year ago. The research firm said the surge was mostly driven by the staggering RM5.78 billion daily traded value on Wednesday.
“This was a common trading pattern due to the implementation of the new MSCI weighting the day after,” it added.
“In contrast, the retail market remained had a blip. The retail ADTV declined by 30.2 per cent, going below RM1 billion to RM887.9 million.”
Stocks of Tenaga Nasional Bhd were the beneficiary of the highest net money inflow of RM47.76 million last week. Its share price remained unchanged for the week.
The second highest net money inflow was into Public Bank Bhd which amounted to RM28.22 million. Its share price slightly underperformed the benchmark index with a 0.20 per cent gain during the review week.
Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) saw the third highest net money inflow of RM23.53 million. Its share price significantly outperformed the benchmark index with a 1.38 per cent gain during the review week.
Maybank’s fixed rate notes for HK$200 million and HK$909 million were given an A3 rating by Moody’s Investors Service on the back of a stable outlook.
Meanwhile, Gamuda Bhd led the top net money outflows last week at RM8.55 million. It was followed by Digi with a net money outflow of RM8.05 million and Dialog Group registered at RM7.74 million.