KUALA LUMPUR (March 18): Foreign selling of Malaysian equities moderated to RM415.1 million last week, from RM1.51 billion the prior week.
In its weekly fund flow report on Monday, MIDF Research said foreign funds only net bought RM46.5m last Tuesday, but were net sellers for the rest of the week.
“The sectors with the highest net foreign inflows were property (RM81.1 million), construction (RM37.1 million), and transportation and logistics (RM17.7 million).
“Meanwhile, the sectors that recorded the highest net foreign outflows were financial services (RM186.0 million), plantation (RM115.7 million), and energy (RM59.6 million),” it said.
Meanwhile, MIDF said local institutions continued their trend of net buying for the third consecutive week as they net bought RM575.8 million.
“As opposed to foreign investors, they were net sellers at RM24.0 million last Tuesday, but were net buyers for the entire week.
“Local retailers shifted their stance to net selling at RM160.7 million, after briefly net buying for two weeks,” it said.
MIDF said foreign funds net sold every day last week, and had been net sellers for seven consecutive trading days.
“In terms of participation, the average daily trading volume rose across all investor classes.
“Local retailers saw an increase of 13.9%, while local institutions saw an increase of 11.2%, and foreign investors by 30.1%,” it said.
Commenting on the international scenario, MIDF said US producer prices increased more than expected, amid a surge in the cost of goods like gasoline and food, which could fan fears that inflation is picking up again.
“The producer price index (PPI) for final demand rose 0.6% last month, after advancing by an unrevised 0.3% in January.
“A 1.2% jump in prices of goods accounted for nearly two-thirds of the increase in the PPI,” it said.
MIDF said that during the past week, 11 out of the 20 major indices under its observation saw declines, with notable underperformers including the Nikkei 225 (2.47%), ASX 200 (2.25%), and the Sensex (1.99%).
“The top three performers for the week were the Hang Seng Index (2.25%), CAC 40 (1.70%), and the Ho Chi Minh VSE (1.32%),” it said.