Net foreign selling doubles to RM 417mil

KUALA LUMPUR: Offshore funds went into a higher gear of selling on Bursa Malaysia last week, according to MIDF Research.

“Based on preliminary data from Bursa which excluded off market deals, foreign funds sold RM417.3mil net of local equities last week which is more than twice the amount withdrawn in the preceding week,” MIDF said in its weekly fund flow report.

The research house noted that the first three days of the week saw a gradual increase in the amount withdrawn by international funds.

The amount sold yesterday was RM49.5mil net which is deemed to be moderate. However, the level of foreign net selling swelled to RM177.8mil net on Tuesday, dragging the FBM KLCI to its lowest close in nine trading days at 1,687.57 points.

Investor sentiment that day was hampered by the weakness of Brent crude oil price coupled with Monday’s slump in technology stocks on Wall Street.

“Wednesday registered a foreign net selling of RM200.4mil, coinciding with the ringgit’s 0.1% drop to USD/MYR4.1958, a level not seen in a year,” the research house said.

MIDF said last Wednesday’s heavy selldown was in conformity with regional peers namely, Taiwan and Thailand.

“Foreign net attrition shrank to just RM30.3mil net on Thursday as fears of the trade friction waned after China sent a response to the US’s demand regarding trade reform.

“Bursa’s five-day foreign net selling streak was then snapped on Friday as foreign investors bought RM40.6mil net of local equities as optimism on the trade developments outweighed news of the resignation of Brexit Secretary, Dominic Raab,” it said.

MIDF said November had so far seen a foreign net outflow of RM421.8mil.

“While foreign investors have sold RM10.37bil of local equities on a year-to-date basis, Malaysia still has the second lowest foreign net outflow amongst the four Asean markets we monitor,” it added.