Foreign Investors Boost Presence In Domestic Market; Trading Share Surges 36.2 Pct In 2024

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) – Foreign investors’ participation in the domestic market has increased in 2024, accounting for 36.20 per cent of total trading activity, up from 29.51 per cent in 2023.

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) said the increase coincided with improved liquidity conditions in the local bourse compared to the preceding year.

“This improvement was reflected in the increased overall average daily trading value and volume, which averaged at RM3.44 billion and 4.29 billion units respectively, during the year,” the SC said in its Capital Market Stability Review 2024 released today.

However, it noted that foreign investors were net sellers in the domestic equity market, recording a cumulative net outflow of RM4.16 billion as of the end of 2024.

Over the same period, the average daily trading value by foreign investors stood at RM1.14 billion, and the average daily trading volume (ADTV) was 739.43 million units.

The SC said foreign holdings in Malaysian equities increased to 19.69 per cent as at Dec 31, 2024, from 19.54 per cent in 2023, where 32.08 per cent (RM131.22 billion) of which consisted of holdings by non-strategic investors.

At the same time, the trading participation of local institutional investors was slightly lower at 43.16 per cent in 2024 from 43.32 per cent in 2023.

The average daily trading value by local institutions in the domestic market stood at RM1.38 billion, with an ADTV of 1.80 billion units.

“Conversely, local retail investors recorded a lower participation rate of 20.64 per cent in 2024 compared to 27.17 per cent in 2023.

“The average daily trading value by local retail investors in the domestic market was RM640.22 million, with an ADTV of 1.47 billion units,” the SC said.

-- BERNAMA