Foreigners sold RM301m last week

PETALING JAYA: The net amount sold by foreign investors last week amounted to RM301.3 million, the second largest weekly attrition so far this year.
MIDF Research said global funds took a breather from Malaysian stocks after two straight weeks of buying on the backdrop of global geopolitical worries.
“Foreign net selling occurred on three out of five trading days last week, from Monday to Wednesday,” the research house said in its fund flow report today.
Only RM40.3 million net of local equities were sold on Monday but selling activity gradually accelerated to RM207.7 million net on Wednesday, coinciding with the FBM KLCI’s largest daily loss during the week, of 0.25%.
It said the main trigger for the heavy selling on Wednesday is the selloff in technology stocks on Wall Street overnight sparked by increased scrutiny over the technology sector whereby Chinese investments in the sector would be capped at a certain level.
Global investors slowly returned to Malaysia on Thursday to a tune of RM39.2 million net aided by easing geopolitical tensions in the Korean peninsula after the two Koreas are set to have talks on April 27. Friday’s foreign buying on Bursa declined to RM9.30 million net with regional peers, namely the Philippines and Indonesia closed for Good Friday.
It said March 2018 recorded a net outflow of RM61.6 million net, a big difference from the RM1.12 billion sold in the previous month. Meanwhile, RM2.20 billion net of local equities were acquired by foreigners on Bursa in 1Q18, the only Southeast Asian market under its coverage with a net inflow. Still, this is less than the RM5.74 billion accumulated in 1Q17.
“We reckon that foreign flows may be muted leading up to the 14th general election which looks set to be held within the next few months,” said MIDF.
Foreign participation has started to slowdown a bit as the foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) declined below the RM1 billion mark for the first time in 12 weeks to settle at RM934 million. The retail market meanwhile was little changed with an ADTV of RM842 million.