PETALING JAYA: Net weekly purchase of equities by foreign investors touched the highest level in nearly eight months, while local retailers have been net sellers for the seventh consecutive week, according to MBSB Research.
In its report for the week ended Jan 16, the research house said foreign investors remained as net buyers for the second straight week, recording RM716.1mil in net foreign inflows.
This was the largest net inflow since mid-May 2025 (RM1.68bil), and around 16.8 times more than the previous week.
“Foreign investors were net buyers on all five days, with the largest inflow recorded last Thursday (RM330mil), followed by Wednesday (RM172mil), Friday (RM115.5mil), Tuesday (RM69.5mil) and Monday (RM29.2mil).
“The top three sectors that recorded net foreign inflows were financial services (RM365.9mil), industrial products and services (RM177.3mil) and plantations (RM90.1mil).
“Meanwhile, the only three sectors that recorded net foreign outflows were construction (RM54.3mil), healthcare (RM52.9mil) and property (RM29.3mil),” stated MBSB Research.
Across the eight Asian markets that MBSB Research monitors, foreign investors reverted to net selling after the previous week of inflows, recording US$954.6mil in net foreign outflows.
However, this was due to an exceptionally large outflow from India, which, along with Vietnam, were the only two markets that saw net foreign outflows.
“Inflows (into the region) were led by Taiwan, followed by South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia.”
In a note, CIMB Securities said the net inflows into Bursa Malaysia last week pushed foreign investors’ net buying position so far this year to RM525.8mil.
In comparison, in 2025, foreign investors pulled RM22.3bil out of the Malaysian equities space on a net basis.
