KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed higher today, buoyed by supportive local economic policies, positive sentiment from strong technology stocks earnings, and a favourable United States (US) market outlook, an analyst said. Add to that, Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 3.0 per cent is poised to encourage domestic spending and investment. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 13.47 points, or 0.83 per cent, to close at its intraday high of 1,634.17, compared to Tuesday’s close of 1,620.70. The benchmark index opened 3.71 points higher at 1,624.41 and subsequently hit a low of 1,623.52 in early trade before trending upwards toward the closing session. Market breadth was positive, with advancers trumping decliners 849 to 352, while 428 counters were unchanged, 765 untraded, and nine suspended. Turnover expanded to 3.39 billion units
Foreign investors returned to net selling, disposing of RM196.2 million worth of equities on Bursa Malaysia last week, according to MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd.
The bank’s fund flow report for the week ending Oct 25 revealed that local institutional investors net bought RM244.6 million worth of equities after a brief period of net selling the week prior. However, local retail investors continued to net sell, with a total of RM48.4 million in equities sold over the same period.
In terms of trading activity, the report noted that both local retail and institutional investors experienced modest increases in average daily trading volume (ADTV), rising by 2.2% and 1.8%, respectively. Conversely, foreign investor ADTV fell by 19.6%, reflecting a more cautious stance.
Foreign investors were net buyers early in the week, acquiring RM39.1 million on Monday and RM107.6 million on Tuesday. However, they reversed this trend and net sold from Wednesday to Friday, with the largest net outflow of RM230.3 million occurring on Thursday.
By sector, the highest net foreign inflows were seen in construction (RM86.5 million), financial services (RM85.7 million), and healthcare (RM53.0 million). On the flip side, the sectors with the largest net foreign outflows included utilities (RM266.9 million), technology (RM50.9 million), and telecommunications and media (RM45.7 million).
On a regional scale, MIDF reported that foreign funds continued to exit Asia for the fourth consecutive week, amounting to US$1.24 billion (RM5.41 billion). Out of the eight tracked countries, Taiwan was the only one to record net foreign inflows, with US$869.0 million in foreign equities bought last week.
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