Foreign investors were active buyers again last week, purchasing a net total of RM1.40b in domestic equities, which is nearly five times the RM299.6m net bought the previous week.

Malaysia's exports surged at their fastest pace in nearly two years, driven by strong demand for commodities and electronics, along with higher shipment to advanced economies. Exports reached RM131.2b in Jul-24, marking a +12.3%yoy increase.

Foreign investors were net buyers on every trading day except for Friday when there was a sell-off of -RM1.6m. The largest net foreign inflow occurred on Monday, totalling RM574.9m.

The sectors that recorded the highest net foreign inflow were Financial Services (RM1.30b), Utilities (RM118.9m), and Telecommunication & Media (RM54.8m), while the sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were Technology (-RM140.2m), Consumer Products & Services (-RM50.2m), and Property (-RM25.9m).

Local institutions were net sellers every trading day and continued to offload domestic equities for the second consecutive week, with a total net sale of RM1.12b.

Local retailers only had a net purchase on Friday, totalling RM78.2m, and were net sellers for the remainder of the week. Overall, they were net sellers with a total of -RM284.4m

The average daily trading volume (ADTV) showed increases across all investor classes. Foreign investors recorded the highest increase at +35.8%, while local institutions and local retailers recorded increases of +33.1% and +19.0% respectively.