KUCHING: Foreign investors increased their exposure on Malaysian equities last week with a net purchase of RM493.9 million for the week ended February 17.
The research arm of MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research) in a report yesterday said foreign investors upped the ante in their trading on Bursa, mopping up Malaysian equity for the second consecutive week ended February 17.
Foreign funds purchased a net amount of RM297.2 million on the local bourse in the prior week ended February 10.
Based on preliminary data from Bursa which excluded off-market trades, foreign investors bought RM493.9 million worth of equities, the highest weekly haul in the past 20 weeks.
“Last week, foreign investors were net buyers in four out of five trading days,” MIDF Research observed.
“Year to February 17, foreign funds have mopped up 1.1 billion worth of local equity which was significantly higher as compared with the first two months of 2014-2016.
“There was strong foreign buying on Wednesday (February 15) amounted to RM193.8 million which coincided with the foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) of RM1.05 billion, the fourth time this year it surpassed RM1 billion figure.
“Overall, the reported net inflow for the week was higher than that in other regional bourses such as in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines.
“As of Friday, foreign investors had already acquired RM687.9 million worth of equity in February, surpassing the RM418.8 million mopped up in January,” MIDF Research said.
The research firm opined that the month of February looks auspicious to be another month of foreign buying although there are six trading days left in the month.
On another note, the research firm observed that the foreign ADTV remained relatively elevated, increasing slightly by 1.7 per cent to RM915.6 million.
Interestingly, the research firm noted the retail investor’s market has sprung to life as the segment’s ADTV rose by 17 per cent to RM813 million.
MIDF Research pointed out that it was the highest ADTV recorded since the last week of November 2015.
Counters with the highest money inflows last week were CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Genting Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, Genting Plantations Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd and SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd.
Counters which recorded the most money outflow last week were Genting Malaysia Bhd, Bursa Malaysia Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, MyEG Services Bhd, Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd and IOI Corporation Bhd.