RM138.6m in foreign funds flow into equity mart
Published on: Monday, February 11, 2019
KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign investors were net buyers in the Malaysian equity market, pumping in RM138.6 million between Monday and Thursday, compared with RM146.8 million recorded during the previous week.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the inflow of foreign funds was quite impressive despite external uncertainties.
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“Perhaps, expectation that the US Federal Fund Rate will reach a peak of 2.50 per cent may have driven funds from abroad to look at emerging market assets.
“Global prospects were also quite weak based on the recent Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector which fell to 50.7 points in January from 51.5 points in December 2018,” he told Bernama.
However, Mohd Afzanizam said US labour markets remained strong, following the release of better-than-expected non-farm payroll data for January coupled with higher wages which could prompt the US Federal Reserve to resume monetary tightening measures should inflation continues to rise.
“If that happens, it may have an impact on capital flow and currency markets,” he added.
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Meanwhile, MIDF Research analyst Adam M Rahim said the month of January 2019 saw foreign net inflow of RM1.03 billion, the first monthly net inflow since September 2018.
He said weekly increase in average daily traded value, which jumped 21 per cent to remain above RM1 billion for the second week running, was only evident among foreign investors.
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For the just-ended holiday-shortened week, there were no major corporate announcements as the local market was closed for two days to usher in the Chinese Lunar New Year which fell on Feb 5.
On Friday, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended 2.99 points higher at 1,686.52.
Phillip Capital Management Malaysia Senior Vice-President (Investment) Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan opined that the small improvement in the fund flow indicated that Malaysia was catching up with other countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.
He said sentiment remained cautious, amid lingering concern following headwinds from trade tensions and global growth.
“The government should encourage more foreign investors to invest in the country as this will propel the inflow of foreign funds into our country,” he said.
On Feb 8, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said international investors were confident in Malaysia’s economic potential as well as the government’s ability to drive the economy forward.
He said Malaysia remained an attractive investment destination with investors, especially with the government’s commitment to the competency, accountability and transparency principles under Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s leadership.
Lim led a delegation from his ministry on a three-day roadshow from Feb 6-8 to meet Japanese investors and senior government officials in conjunction with the upcoming issuance of the Samurai bond.
As for the ringgit’s outlook, Nazri Khan said the local note was expected to trade at 4.00 against the US dollar next week boosted by mild buying.
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