ASEAN countries Including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia saw foreign outflow last week, says MIDF Research

According to the research house, Thailand posted the second highest outflow for the fourth consecutive week, with a net foreign outflow of US$138.3 million.

Malaysia saw the third highest outflow as foreign investors remained net sellers on Bursa Malaysia with a total net foreign outflow of RM46.4 million for the fourth consecutive week during the trading week that ended May 12.

"The Philippines recorded a net foreign outflow of US$12.4 million and Vietnam posted a net foreign outflow at US$6.2 million for the second consecutive week," it said in a note today.

As for Malaysia, MIDF Research said the week started off on a positive note with net foreign inflows of RM9.5 million on Monday and RM81.8 million on Tuesday.

"Foreigners started net selling from Wednesday to Friday with outflows amounting to RM137.6 million," it said.

It noted that foreign funds had been net sellers of Malaysian equities for 13 out of 19 weeks this year with outflows amounting to RM2.18 billion.

"The top three sectors that saw net foreign inflows were telecommunications and media (RM62.9 million), utilities (RM26.4 million), and plantation (RM12.1 million).

"The top three sectors that saw net foreign outflows were financial services (RM84.5 million), industrial products and services (RM32.6 million), and construction (RM17.6 million)," it said.

MIDF Research noted that local institutions remained net buyers for the third consecutive week at RM49.9 million last week, with every trading day being a net buying day by local institutions except for Tuesday, which saw an outflow of RM63.9 million.

"The bulk of the inflows came in on Friday at RM72.3 million when Bank Negara Malaysia announced a better-than-expected expansion of the domestic economy of 5.6 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023," it noted.

The research house also said local institutions had been net buyers for 14 out of 19 weeks this year with inflows totalling RM2.09 billion.

"Local retailers remained net sellers for the second consecutive week at RM3.6 million with every trading day a net selling day except for Wednesday (RM15.3 million) and Thursday (RM25.4 million)," it noted.

However, local retailers had been net buyers of domestic equities for nine out of 19 weeks this year with total inflows of RM93.4 million.

In terms of participation, there was an increase in average daily trading volume among local retailers by 5.3 per cent, local institutions by 16.2 per cent, and foreign investors by 30.6 per cent.