Foreign Investors Stay Net Buyers Of Local Equities So Far In March -- Bank Islam

By Kisho Kumari Sucedaram and Niam Seet Wei KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 (Bernama) -- Foreign investors remained net buyers of local equities on Bursa Malaysia in the first two weeks of this month with inflows totalling RM526.7 million. “This brings the cumulative year-to-date foreign net outflow to RM1.2 billion,” said Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim. He told Bernama that foreign investors bought RM240.8 million net of local equities during the second week of March 2021, down from RM285.9 million in the preceding week. Elaborating further, he said Bursa Malaysia began last week on the wrong foot as international investors sold RM62.9 million net of local equities on Monday, as inflation worries offset optimism over the passage of a US$1.9 trillion stimulus bill in the United States (US). Nevertheless, he said foreign investors returned to the local stock market with RM120.7 million net on Tuesday, buoyed by rubber glove counters, namely Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd and Top Glove Corporation Bhd which gained by more than one per cent for the day. “The strength in rubber glove counters came about as Top Glove released its latest quarterly results which saw its revenue for the second quarter ended Feb 28, 2021, grow 12.74 per cent to hit a record RM5.37 billion from RM4.76 billion in the first quarter. “This was despite an eight per cent decline in volume due to a temporary production halt in its facilities in Klang during November and December 2020,” he said. On the global front, Adam said the upbeat sentiment in regional Asian markets was due to a retracement in the US bond yields following remarks of central banks across the globe including the US Federal Reserve which mentioned that it had the tools to deal with inflation. Offshore investors upped the ante in their buying activity as they mopped up RM186.6 million net of local equities on Wednesday, he said. “Positive vibes came about following the government's move to allow domestic tourism travel from March 10, 2021, via government-registered tour agencies which sparked some positivity in terms of economic growth trajectory,” he said. He added that the pace at which foreign investors were buying local equities slowed down to RM72.4 million net on Thursday. “The FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM KLCI) settled lower at 1,629.4 points on Thursday, with some investors having the view that the current levels were ripe for profit-taking. “This was in contrast with other regional peers which recorded gains such as Singapore, China, Hong Kong , Japan, Taiwan and South Korea,” he noted. According to Adam, the three-day buying streak was snapped on Friday as foreign investors withdrew RM76.0 million net of local equities amid continuing profit-taking activity. “This is because international investors decided to lock in some gains despite receding worries about rising inflation following the bigger-than-expected fall in weekly jobless claims in the US,” he said. -- BERNAMA