Foreigners sold RM182.9m last week

PETALING JAYA: Foreign funds withdrew RM182.9 million net of local equities last week, which is more than half the amount accumulated in the preceding week.

“Foreign investors shifted back into selling mode last week amid political developments overseas,” MIDF Research said in its fund flow report yesterday.

It said Monday saw a staggering outflow of RM378.6 million net, the highest in a day since July 6, 2018 as investors cashed in gains ahead of the Deepavali holiday on Tuesday. Moreover, markets remained wary of the US employment data released in the preceding Friday, which supported the case for further rate hikes by the Fed.

Nevertheless, foreign investors entered into the local bourse as they snapped up RM95.4 million net of local equities as markets reopened on Wednesday.

It was noteworthy that the FBM KLCI gained 0.36% the same day outperforming regional peers such as Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea which reacted towards the US midterm elections.

Foreign net buying continued to grow to a tune of RM179.8 million on Thursday, as the local bourse tracked overnight gains on Wall Street as risky assets were in favour after the Democrats won control of the House of Representatives while Republicans held on to the Senate.

On the same day, Bank Negara Malaysia kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged for the fifth time in attempt to support the economy.

The week ended with a foreign net outflow of RM79.5 million on Friday as investors reacted to the underperformance of the technology sector on Wall Street amid lacklustre earnings from Square and Roku overnight in addition to the Brent crude oil price, which went below US$72 per barrel.