KUALA LUMPUR (June 18): Foreign buying of Malaysian equity continued last week at a slower pace as inflows narrowed to RM202.4 million from RM535 million the prior week.

In its weekly fund flow report on Tuesday, the MIDF Research Team said foreign investors recorded net buying of RM10.7 million on Monday, RM135.1 million on Tuesday and RM197.4 million on Thursday.

It said they net sold RM82.7 million on Wednesday and RM58.1 million on Friday.

“The sectors which recorded the highest net foreign inflows last week were Utilities (RM240.8 million), Industrial Products and Services (RM142.8 million), and Technology (RM100.8 million) while the sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were Financial Services (RM330.9 million), Plantation (RM126.2 million), and Telecommunication & Media (RM77.2 million).

“Local institutions continued their trend of net selling for two consecutive weeks, though at a reduced amount of RM25.9 million, representing a 91% decrease compared to the previous week,” it said.

MIDF said although there were three days with net buying, the two net selling days on Tuesday and Thursday, totalling RM129.1 million, were enough to offset the net bought amount.

“Local retailers consistently sold off domestic equities for two consecutive weeks, totalling RM176.5 million, with selling occurring every day except Wednesday (RM29.1 million) and Friday (RM37.5 million).

“Regarding participation, retail investors experienced an increase in average daily trading volume (ADTV) by 26.9%, local institutions by 14.1%, whereas foreign investors saw a decline of 4.8%,” it said.

Commenting on the global situation, MIDF said most markets declined last week, with 14 out of 20 indices it monitors in the red.

“Topping the gainers were Nasdaq (3.24%), Taiwan’s TAIEX (2.96%) and the S&P 500 (1.58%).

“The top three decliners were the CAC 40 (6.23%), DAX 40 (2.99%) and the Stoxx Europe 600 (2.39%),” it said.