KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign investors purchased a whopping RM1.76bil net last week, an amount not seen since May 2013, following the outcome of the 13th General Election (GE13), according to MIDF Research.
Indeed, the research house said the last time the amount exceeded RM1bil was in March last year.
“Foreign investors have now been net buyers on Bursa for six consecutive weeks. As of Friday, foreign net buying had extended for six trading days. Notably, the average amount mopped per day during the six days was RM305mil.
“In March 2016, when trading on Bursa was this intense, the average amount mopped up was only RM264mil,” MIDF said in its weekly fund flow report.
On Friday, the buying turned into a frenzy with foreigners acquired a massive RM816mil, the highest since May 7, 2013, two days after the GE13.
In addition, MIDF noted that foreign participation also surged to a level not seen since May 2013. The average daily trade value (ADTV) surged to RM1.69bil, a 71% increase compared with that in the preceding week.
The return of foreign investors have accorded a much needed breathing space for local investors to lighten their position and realise profits.
Local institutions offloaded RM1.58bil net last week. Since beginning of the year, local fund managers have disposed RM2.80bil net.
MIDF noted that the retail market remained vibrant as retailers took advantage of the foreign liquidity avalanche to offload RM180mil while retail ADTV surged to RM1.2bil, second week in a row it exceeded RM1bil.
Last week, Tenaga Nasional registered the highest net money inflow of RM6.73mil. Its share price, however, lagged as it ended unchanged against the FBM KLCI which rose by 1.61% during the week under review.
AirAsia recorded the second highest net money inflow of RM6.16mil. Accordingly, its share price outperformed against the market benchmark with a 2.47% weekly gain.
The budget carrier announced that it had entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Caterhamjet Global Ltd to acquire the Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global Express for US$10mil cash with a plan to operate charter and private unscheduled business jet operations.
UOA Development saw the third highest net money inflow of RM5.81mil.
Meanwhile, Malayan Banking saw the largest net money outflow of RM28.48mil last week. Its stock price underperformed despite a 1.48% gain vis-à-vis the FBM KLCI which advanced by a larger 1.61% during the review week.
On this score, it is notable that net money outflow amidst advancing share price indicates a sell on strength (SOS) stance among some investors.
Public Bank recorded the second largest net money outflow of RM27.42mil during the week while Hong Leong Bank registered the third largest net money outflow at RM12.60mil.
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