Foreign investors bought RM1.14b last week

PETALING JAYA: Foreign investors purchased RM1.14 billion net in the open market (excluding off market deals) last week, the second week running the amount had exceeded RM1 billion, said MIDF Research.
"Malaysia can claim to be the most favoured Southeast Asia emerging market in 2017 among global investors, based on foreign liquidity flow on Bursa, which remained elevated for the third week running," it said in its fund flow report yesterday.
According to MIDF Research, foreign investors have now been net buyers on Bursa for eight consecutive weeks.
As of Friday, foreign net buying had extended for 15 trading days, the longest since March 2016.
For the month of March, cumulative foreign net purchases amounted to RM4.7 billion; that was quadruple the cumulative inflow in February 2017 which amounted to RM956 million.
Foreign participation on Bursa remained at an elevated level despite easing by 16%. The foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) stood at RM1.05 billion, the third highest this year.
"The strong foreign buying momentum continues to enable local investors to lighten their position. Local institutions offloaded RM1.09 billion net last week and have disposed RM4.95 billion net year-to-date," it said.
It added that the retail investor market remained vibrant despite ADTV declining also by 16% to RM1.06 billion compared to that the week before, marking the fourth week in a row it exceeded RM1 billion.
However, retail investors are on "take-profit" mode, selling for six weeks in a row.