Foreign funds continue to flow into Bursa

PETALING JAYA: Foreign investors continued to pump liquidity into stocks listed on Bursa Malaysia, albeit at a tapered rate last week amid the political turmoil in the US and Brazil, MIDF Research said.

Excluding off-market transactions, the amount bought last week was RM192.4 million, the lowest in 11 weeks of buying, the research house said in a report yesterday.

“Still, the buying streak by foreign investors have now stretched for 15 straight weeks, edging closer towards the 24-week buying spree which started in December 2012 and ended in May 2013,” it added.

Nevertheless, MIDF Research said the foreign liquidity flow turned erratic, as foreign investors turned net sellers in two out of the five trading days.

On Wednesday, it said the 26-day buying streak was snapped as foreigners offloaded RM51.1 million net but returned promisingly on Friday.

However, despite lower foreign net add, MIDF Research said participation remained elevated, noting foreign average daily trade value jumped 27% to RM1.26 billion, the third highest this year.

Meanwhile, the retail market remained healthy as participation rate stayed above RM1 billion at RM1.39 billion, 17.8% higher than the week before.

“Retail investors took advantage of the market consolidation as they turned net buyers, albeit modestly at RM38.5 million. This is the 10th week this year that retail participation has exceeded the RM1 billion mark,” it said.

Malayan Banking Bhd were the beneficiary of the highest net money inflow of RM9.29 million last week, while Sime Darby Bhd saw the largest net money outflow of RM22.83 million last week.