Foreigners sold RM1.18b in equities last week
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended its foreign net selling streak of equities for the eighth consecutive week, recording a net outflow of RM1.18 billion last week.
MIDF Research said the equity market had a rough start to the week as global investors sold equities worth RM288.6 million last Monday.
On a month-to-date basis, the research firm said Malaysia recorded a net outflow of RM1.71 billion this month.
“This brings the year-to-date net outflow to RM4.46 billion.”
In its weekly fund flow report, MIDF Research’s Adam M. Rahim said Tuesday saw a net outflow of RM253.1 million as China announced retaliatory tariffs on United States goods.
“The local bourse was adversely impacted by the US-China rift, closing below 1,600 points for the first time since September 2015.”
Adam said the level of foreign net outflow tapered to RM91.6 million last Wednesday, the lowest for the week, coinciding with a 0.8 per cent gain on the local bourse.
Last Thursday, the local bourse experienced a spike in foreign net selling, hitting RM371.7 million.
Adam said as the trade war outweighed positive vibes from the nation’s first-quarter gross domestic product growth that exceeded expectations.
Net outflow slowed to below RM200 million on Friday, partly due to the rise in US equities overnight on solid corporate earnings of companies and better-than-expected housing data.
Participation among foreign investors gained momentum last week as the average daily traded value rose 2.7 per cent to a healthy level of RM1.21 billion.