KUALA LUMPUR (March 4): Foreign buying of Malaysian equities snapped last week with a net disposal of RM503 million last week, the highest outflow in 19 weeks, from a net inflow of RM786.1 million the prior week.

In its weekly fund flow report on Monday (March 4), MIDF Research said foreign investors net bought RM189.7 million last Tuesday (Feb 27) but were net sellers for the rest of the week, with the highest net selling amount of RM268.3 million last Wednesday.

“The sectors with the highest net foreign inflows were utilities (RM274.0 million), transportation (RM61.4 million) and telecommunications and media (RM31.2 million) while sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were financial services (RM515.9 million), industrial products and services (RM107.6 million) and plantation (RM76.1 million),” it said.

MIDF said as opposed to foreign investors, local institutions net bought RM443.5 million after five straight weeks of net selling.

“Local retailers also net bought last week, totalling RM59.6 million, after net selling for three consecutive weeks.

“In terms of participation, there were increases in average daily trading volume (ADTV) across all investor classes,” it said.

MIDF said local retailers saw an increase of 14.0%, while local institutions saw an increase of 13.1% and foreign investors 109.8%.

Commenting on the international scene, MIDF said a key measure of US factory activity contracted more rapidly in February as orders, production, and employment all declined.

It said this indicates that the manufacturing sector is facing challenges in gaining momentum.

“Last week, 12 out of the 20 major indices we monitor recorded gains, with performers including Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh VSE (3.82%), Japan’s Nikkei 225 (2.08%), and Germany’s DAX 40 (1.81%).

“Conversely, notable decliners were Thailand’s SET (2.20%), Singapore’s Straits Times (1.54%), and South Korea’s Kospi (0.95%),” it said.