Foreign funds pile SAR 2.05B into TASI stocks last week

Foreign institutions were net buyers of about SAR 2.05 billion worth of Tadawul-listed stocks in the week ended June 11, the exchange's weekly data showed Tuesday. That marked a sharp turnaround from prior weeks, when foreign investors had been net sellers on balance. The buying spree pushed foreign institutions' share of total weekly buys to 41.26%, against 33.79% of sells.

Foreign individual investors were net sellers of roughly SAR 29.5 million over the same period.

The other side of the trade was dominated by domestic investors. Saudi individuals sold about SAR 1.54 billion worth of shares. Specialized individual investors led the group with SAR 1.09 billion in net sales, followed by high-net-worth individuals at SAR 325.6 million and retail investors at SAR 188.3 million. Managed individual portfolios bucked the trend, posting net buys of SAR 64.6 million.

Saudi institutions sold a net SAR 553.8 million. Corporates accounted for the bulk of that, with net sales of SAR 478.7 million. Investment funds sold SAR 85.2 million, and government entities sold SAR 40.1 million. Managed institutional portfolios were net buyers of SAR 50.2 million.

Foreign buying at this pace is the kind of inflow that can shift sector-level sentiment on Tadawul, especially in large-cap names where foreign ownership has room to grow. A second week of similar flows would confirm the turn. A reversal back to net selling would put last week's move in the "one-off rebalancing" bucket – and traders price it accordingly.