Foreign funds sell another RM422.2m of shares KUALA LUMPUR:

Foreign funds continued to exit Bursa Malaysia, with the outflow having almost tripled to RM422.2 million between Monday and Thursday last week from RM145.7 million in the same period a week earlier, with the United States-China trade deal negotiations still dominating market sentiment.

Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) index traded mostly lower last week in tandem with the regional bourses’ performance.

For the week just ended, Bursa Malaysia closed broadly lower on Monday and Tuesday amid a lack of catalysts, but ended higher on Wednesday, boosted by buying momentum in selected heavyweights on news that negotiations to conclude a trade deal between the US and China remained on track.

Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd head of research Pong Teng Siew said foreign investors were generally on a buying mode from January 2017 up to May last year, but started to offload local equities after the 14th general election.

Pong said the local bourse also saw a big selldown on Friday, with the FBM KLCI dipping 22.03 points, or 1.40 per cent, to finish at 1,561.74, mainly due to monthend portfolio rebalancing by foreign funds.

The rebalancing is occasionally done by the foreign fund at month-end, where they either sell or buy in big amount, but he does not expect a follow-through this week.

He said the exclusion of Pentamaster Corp Bhd, one of the biggest technology stocks on Bursa, from the Securities Commission’s syariah-compliant list had weighed on the sector’s sentiment.

Pong said Tenaga Nasional Bhd, which was imposed with an additional tax bill of RM3.98 billion for the years of assessment of 2015-2017, also contributed to FBM KLCI’s fall.