Foreign selling of Malaysian stocks picks up

PETALING JAYA: Foreign investors sold RM71.4 million net of Malaysian equities last week, higher than the RM54.2 million net recorded in the preceding week.
The estimates made are based on transactions in the open market, and exclude off-market deals.
“For the fifth week running, foreign funds disposed of equities listed on Bursa Malaysia, the longest selling binge so far this year during the holiday shortened week,” MIDF Research said in its fund flow report today.
Net foreign selling occurred on each day of the holiday-shortened trading week. The highest attrition of the week was recorded on Tuesday, which amounted to RM29.1 million net, as investors shifted to the sidelines to seek cover before the Deepavali holiday on Wednesday.

The research house said it seems that the local stock market is showing a muted response while markets elsewhere are showing a bullish trend amid global developments such as US President Donald Trump’s tax reform progress, commendable earnings reports on Wall Street and positive Chinese economic data.
The cumulative net foreign inflow into shares listed on Bursa as of last week currently stands at RM9.4 billion. Nevertheless, the cumulative amount still offsets 30% of the total net outflows recorded in the past three years.
Foreign participation rebounded strongly as the foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) surged by a staggering 60% to reach above the RM1 billion level at RM1.27 billion, the third highest weekly amount for the year.
The retail market, however, was somewhat muted as the ADTV was almost unchanged, declining by only 0.04% to RM995.3 million.