Foreign Investors End Two-week Buying Streak, Pull US$1.71 Bln From Asian Markets

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Bernama) -- Foreign investors turned net sellers, ending their two-week consecutive streak of net buying activity across Asian markets last week, recording US$1.71 billion of net foreign outflows. 

MBSB Investment Bank Bhd’s (MBSB IB) Fund Flow Report for the week ended Oct 17, 2025, said that among the markets tracked, only India, Korea, and Indonesia registered net foreign inflows, while the rest saw net selling activity led by Taiwan, which posted the largest regional outflow.

“India extended to a two-week consecutive streak of net foreign purchases, registering the region’s largest net foreign inflow at US$968.5 million, a 4.9 times increase compared to the previous week.

“South Korea extended their streak of net buying activity to three consecutive weeks, recording US$569.5 million in net foreign inflows, while Indonesia extended to a two-week consecutive net buying streak, registering foreign purchases of US$117.9 million,” it said.

Back home, MBSB IB said foreign investors turned extended to a two-week consecutive net selling streak, posting net outflows of RM962.8 million.

It said foreign investors were net sellers on every trading day last week, with Monday seeing the highest net selling activity at RM393.5 million, followed by Tuesday (-RM320.0 million), Friday (-RM190.8 million) and Wednesday (-RM47.5 million).

“The smallest outflow occurred on Thursday, which saw a moderate withdrawal of -RM11.0 million,” it said.

The investment bank noted that the only three sectors that recorded net foreign inflows last week were consumer products and services (RM518.9 million), technology (RM87.3 million), and construction (RM6.5 million). 

It said the top three sectors that recorded net foreign outflows were financial services (-RM835.5 million), healthcare (-RM270.3 million), and utilities (-RM106.7 million).

MBSB IB also noted that local institutions extended to a two-week consecutive streak of net buying activity, recording purchases of RM1.32 billion, while local retailers extended to a six-week consecutive net selling streak, posting a net outflow of RM357.4 million.

“The average daily trading volume (ADTV) experienced a broad-based increase last week, (where) local retailers and foreign investors recorded increases of 26.7 per cent and 18.7 per cent, respectively, while local institutions saw a decrease of 4.3 per cent,” it said.

-- BERNAMA