KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed almost flat on Tuesday as buying interest rotated away from index heavyweights towards smaller-cap construction stocks, with sentiment affected by geopolitical uncertainty, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.39 of a point to 1,714.40 from Monday’s close of 1,714.79. The benchmark index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,713.14 and moved between 1,710.44 and 1,714.50 throughout the trading session. The broader market was almost evenly balanced, with decliners leading gainers 548 to 546, while 598 counters were unchanged, 1,107 were untraded and 25 were suspended. Turnover expanded to 4.13 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion from 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion on Monday.
The outflows were driven by large sell-offs at the start and end of the week, with foreign investors selling RM147.9 million worth of equities on Monday and RM216.6 million on Friday. However, this was offset by net inflows from Tuesday to Thursday, ranging from RM44.4 million to RM70.2 million.
The consumer products and services sector saw the highest net foreign inflows at RM98.0 million, followed by property at RM31.8 million, and plantation at RM23.7 million.
In contrast, financial services experienced the largest net outflows at RM184.5 million, followed by transportation and logistics at RM48.0 million, and healthcare at RM44.0 million.
Local institutional investors continued to show support, marking their fifth consecutive week of net buying, with a total of RM93.4 million. Local retailers also remained net buyers for the third week, accumulating RM102.5 million in purchases. Despite the activity, average daily trading volumes dropped across all investor categories, with foreign investors’ volume falling by 6.4%, local institutions by 5.4%, and retailers by 0.6%.
The continued foreign outflows indicate cautious sentiment towards Malaysian equities, while local investors are providing some stability. The consumer products and services sector remains particularly attractive to foreign investors, in contrast to the significant outflows from financial services, reflecting shifting investor preferences and the varying impact of economic conditions on different sectors, MIDF added.
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