Foreign selling spikes to RM447.9mil Bursa last week

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia saw an exodus of foreign funds in the week ended February 21, making it the second largest weekly foreign net outflow seen so far in 2020.

“Based on data from Bursa, international investors disposed of RM447.9mil net of local equities last week, the second largest weekly foreign net outflow seen so far in 2020, ” MIDF said in its weekly fund flow report.

The research house noted that it was a tough start for Bursa last week as foreign investors took out RM102.7mil net of local equities on Monday.

It said market sentiment was clouded by the slash in 2020 GDP growth estimate by Singapore amidst potential impact of Covid-19 on trade and tourism while Thailand posted its slowest economic growth expansion in five years for 2019.

“Foreign net selling activity accelerated to RM123.6mil net on Tuesday. The selloff was in sync with other regional peers namely South Korea and Taiwan after Apple Inc. warned that it is unlikely to meet its revenue guidance for the first quarter of 2020, ” the research house said.

International funds later took a breather on selling activity on Wednesday as they snapped up RM25.4mil net of local equities.

MIDF said worries resurfaced on Thursday with South Korea reporting its first death from the Covid-19 while Japan confirmed two deaths from a quarantined cruise ship. As such, offshore investors sold RM103.8mil net on Thursday.

“Jitters remained in markets as Friday saw the largest foreign net outflow in two weeks of RM143.3m net, dragging the local stock barometer down by 0.3% to 1,531.2 points, the lowest close since early February this year, ” it added.

With a week left before February ends, MIDF said the month had seen a foreign net outflow of RM704.8mil.

Meanwhile, the foreign net outflow from Malaysia on a year-to-date basis stands at RM843.1mil, the third largest amongst the seven Asian markets under MIDF’s coverage.

In terms of participation, the average daily traded value (ADTV) of foreign investors declined the most by 14.1% for the week to go below the healthy level of RM1bil.