FOREIGN INVESTORS CONTINUE BUYING STREAK ON BURSA MALAYSIA IN LAST WEEK OF 2023

The interest in Malaysian equities among foreign investors stretched into its third week as they net bought RM165.3 million worth of shares on Bursa Malaysia last week.

MIDF Research said that major markets recorded gains in the final week of 2023, spurred by the Federal Reserve's mid-December policy projections indicating significant rate cuts for this year. 

In its weeky Fund Flow Report, the research house said that during the shortened trading week (Monday being the Christmas holiday), foreign investors net bought equities valued at RM85.2 million on 27th December and RM187.9 million on 28th December but net sold RM50.3 million worth of equities on Tuesday and RM57.5 million on 29th December.

"For the week, the top three sectors with the highest net foreign inflows were technology (RM213.1 million), energy (RM45.0 million) and industrial products and services (RM37.0 million)," it said.

Meanwhile, the top three sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were financial services (RM93.5 million), healthcare (RM59.8 million) and construction (RM27.8 million).

For the month of December 2023, foreign investors net bought for the second consecutive month at RM256.1 million (November 2023: RM1.55 billion).

As for local institutional investors, they continued to net sell for the second straight week at RM189.6 million, which was 77.7% more than the previous week.

"They net bought RM21.0 million on 26th December and RM58.9 million on 29th December but net sold RM66.9 million on 27th December and RM202.7 million on 28th December,” MIDF Research noted.

Meanwhile, local retailers net bought RM4.3 million last week, after net selling in the previous two weeks. They net bought RM29.3 million on 26th December and RM14.8 million on 28th December, but net sold RM18.4 million on 27th December and RM1.4 million on 29th December.

In terms of participation, there was an 11.6% increase in average daily trading volume among local institutions, while local retailers and foreign investors saw declines of 4.3% and 22.0%, respectively.