Foreign funds continue to flow into Bursa

KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign buying on Bursa continued for the 11th consecutive week, the longest since the 24-week buying streak which ended in May 2013, the month of the last General Election, according to MIDF Research.

However, the research house said the amount may have tapered. It said foreign purchase of equity listed in the open market (excluding off market deals) amounted to RM283mil net, compared to RM239mil the week before.

“Most foreign buying occurred on Friday when the amount reached RM144.9mil net. The influx of foreign buying coincided with the KLCI reaching a 22-month high as sentiment was boosted by a possible tax reform by Trump, to be announced this Wednesday.

“Year-to-date, the cumulative foreign net purchases amounted to RM6.91bil, the highest among regional peers namely Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines,” MIDF said in its weekly fund flow report.

Foreign participation on Bursa bounced last week but it remained at a moderate level last week. Foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) was up by 16% to RM860.4mil.

MIDF said retail participation had started to taper as the ADTV declined by 20.2% to RM881.4mil, the first time it declined below the RM1bil level in six weeks.

There was heavy profit taking by retail investors last week. The amount offloaded of RM187.6mil was the highest in a week this year.

Last week, KL Kepong registered the highest net money inflow of RM10.32mil. Its share price increased by 2.10%, outperforming against the FBM KLCI which increased by 1.45% during the week under review.

British American Tobacco recorded the second highest net money inflow of RM5.82mil while Heineken Malaysia saw the third highest net money inflow of RM5mil.

Tenaga Nasional saw the largest net money out-flow of RM37.22mil last week. Its stock price underperformed the benchmark index with a 0.29% gain. On this score, it is notable that the net outflow amidst declining share price indicates a sell-on-strength (SOS) stance among some investors.

Petronas Chemicals recorded the second largest net money outflow of RM11.09mil and Genting Malaysia registered the third largest net money outflow at RM10.17mil.