Foreign selling last week ebbs to 2017 low

PETALING JAYA: Foreign investors sold RM28.6 million net of Malaysian equities last week, marking the lowest attrition so far this year, said MIDF Research.
“The amount sold was also substantially lower than the RM92.1 million net recorded in the week before. The estimates made are based on transactions in the open market, which excluded off market deals,” it said in its fund flow report today.
It noted that the pace of attrition has slowed down significantly compared with previous weeks, with the average level of foreign selling at RM65.8 million in the past five weeks. Foreign investors sold Malaysian equities on three out of the five trading days last week.
“It was no surprise that Monday experienced a net foreign buying of RM133.4 million net, the highest since Sept 12 amid the feel good vibe from the Budget 2018 announcement. This even coincided with the FBM KLCI hitting a seven-day trading high of 1,748 points,” MIDF Research said.
However, the positive mood was short-lived, as Thursday saw the highest selloff during the week, RM72.3 million net.
“The resumption of foreign selling saw the local bourse gradually slipping to end at 1,741 points on Friday despite a rally in regional peers notably, the Philippines and Indonesia and improving oil prices.”
MIDF Research said October is the third month of foreign selling this year as international investors sold off RM226.3 million net. This resulted in the cumulative year-to-date number being dragged down to RM9.28 billion as of last week. Nonetheless, the cumulative year-to-date inflow still offsets about 31.6% of the total net outflows from 2014 to 2016.
Foreign participation continued to slip as the foreign average daily trade value fell 9% to settle at RM861 million.