NST Business
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has seen the largest foreign fund outflow since 2015, with RM11.65 billion net flowing off Bursa Malaysia so far this year until December 28.
MIDF Research said RM19.49 billion of equities had been pulled out year-to-date, offsetting last year’s foreign net inflow of RM10.33 billion.
Malaysia is still the nation with the second lowest year-to-date outflow among the four Asean markets the firm tracks, with one more trading day left before 2018 ends.
MIDF Research said foreign funds sold RM127.6 million of local equities last week, the smallest in three weeks.
Overseas funds had been selling stocks listed on Bursa for the past eight consecutive weeks.
MIDF Research said Monday’s foreign net selling declined to RM13 million on the eve of Christmas compared to the previous three trading days which saw foreign net outflow standing above RM100 million.
“The slowdown in foreign net selling was partly attributable Beijing’s pledge to support the economy in the wake of the global trade tribulation by slashing taxes and ensuring liquidity is maintained,” it said in its weekly fund flow report for the week ended December 28.
It said foreign funds later pulled out RM60.6 million on Boxing Day, taking cue of the unnerving political turmoil in the US where President Donald Trump became hostile towards the Federal Reserve’s chairman.
“This is in conformity with the three other Asean peers we monitor. Nonetheless, the level of foreign net selling on Thursday retreated to a lower amount of RM28.1 million amid the overnight jump in Wall Street following a report that US holiday sales hit a six-year high,” it said.
MIDF Research said Friday’s pace of foreign net selling was little changed at RM26 million net as the euphoria on the US’ consumer strength evaporated with no catalyst in sight.
The firm said the participation rate among the various group of investors saw a decline across the board, with the average daily traded value (ADTV) of foreign investors registered the largest weekly drop of 58.7 per cent after declining below RM1 billion to RM475 million.
“We note that the weekly ADTV for foreigners was also the lowest in the last week of 2017,” it said.