BURSA Malaysia saw foreign net selling for the fifth consecutive week. Based on data from the stock exchange operator, international investors sold RM1.79 bil net of local equities last week.
The FBM KLCI dropped 3.1% for the week after settling at 1,303.3 points. Nevertheless, the local bourse’s weekly decline was not as much as its Asian peers namely Hong Kong, Japan and China. Similarly, the ringgit depreciated by 2.7% against the greenback to reach US$/RM4.39 during the week.
MIDF Research analyst Adam Rahim said: “Major equity markets worldwide remained in the red last week amidst a series of unexpected interest rate cuts by central banks around the globe in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Brent crude oil logged its fourth weekly drop after settling 20.3% lower at US$26.98 per barrel. Texas oil regulator Ryan Sitton said he had discussed the global oil and supply situation with Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo and been invited to the cartel’s upcoming meeting in June.
Nevertheless, this was insufficient to outweigh the weak sentiment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and a production hikes-and-markets-share tussle between Saudi Arabia and Russia. The pace at which international investors were disposing of Asian equities took a slight breather last week.
Based on the provisional aggregate data for the seven Asian exchanges (Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Taiwan, India and Malaysia) that the research house tracks, investors classified as “foreign” sold US$9.98 bil net last week compared to the US$13.45 bil net disposed of the week before.
Hartalega Holdings Bhd registered the highest net money inflow of RM8.68 mil last week. Its share price gained 9.24% for the week, outperforming the local bourse which had a 3.1% weekly drop.
Meanwhile, Top Glove Corp Bhd recorded the second highest net money inflow of RM7.09 mil with a share price that was 0.48% higher while QL Resources Bhd saw the third highest net money inflow of RM5.87 mil. However, its share price was 8.14% lower during the week.
Notably. net money inflow amidst retreating share price may indicate a buy on weakness (BOW) stance among some investors.
On the other hand, Public Bank Bhd saw the largest net money outflow of RM33.12 mil last week. Its stock price was 8.24% lower for the week, underperforming vis-à-vis the FBM KLCI.
Malayan Banking Bhd recorded the second largest net money outflow of RM8.07 mil during the week under review. Its share price was 4.70% lower during the week.
Tenaga Nasional Bhd registered the third largest net money outflow of RM7.4 mil during the week. Its share price was 1.69% higher. — March 23, 2020
