PETALING JAYA: Foreign investors kept pulling out funds from the Malaysian stock market, with net selling ballooning to RM16.68bil this year up till the week ended Sept 5.
The amount, which follows nine straight weeks of net foreign fund outflows, is nearly four times larger than the RM4.2bil net selling in the entire 2024.
It is also larger than the net foreign selling seen in the regional markets, namely, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
In its weekly fund flow report, MBSB Research said Malaysian equities saw a net foreign fund outflow of RM187.6mil in the week ended Sept 5.
While this was substantially lower than the previous week’s outflow of RM1.41bil, it was due to the shortened trading week, with markets closed on Monday and Friday for public holidays.
Foreign investors were net sellers on two out of three trading days last week.
“The top three sectors that recorded the highest net foreign outflows were financial services (RM417.1mil), telecommunication and media (RM43.1mil) and utilities (RM35.9mil).
“The top three sectors that recorded net foreign inflows last week were construction (RM135.3mil), transportation and logistics (RM41.5mil) and healthcare (RM38.9mil).”
Meanwhile, MBSB Research said local institutions extended their net buying streak to a sixth consecutive week, accumulating RM148.6mil in purchases for the week.
Local retailers also remained net buyers for a second consecutive week, with net purchases of RM38.9mil.
“Average daily trading volume declined across all investor groups last week.
“Retail investors and local institutions recorded contractions of 15.7% and 17.5%, respectively, while foreign investors posted a sharper decline of 42.2%,” according to the research house.
