KUALA LUMPUR (July 29): Foreign investors ended three weeks of net buying on Bursa Malaysia and sold RM423.5 million worth of domestic equities last week, from an inflow of RM740.8 million the prior week.

In its weekly fund flow report on Monday (July 29), MIDF Research said that last Tuesday (July 23) was the only day with a net foreign inflow, totalling RM151.1 million, while the rest of the week saw foreign funds exiting the market.

It said the largest outflow occurred last Thursday, totalling RM371.0 million.

“Foreign investors only net bought three sectors last week and these were property (RM43.9 million), utilities (RM42.2 million) and construction (RM6.5 million).

“The top three sectors that were net sold were technology (RM107.7 million), consumer products and services (RM87.7 million), and industrial products and services (RM80.8 million),” it said.

MIDF said local institutions and local retailers were the supporters of the local bourse last week, breaking their previous net selling streaks.

It said local institutions net purchased RM256.4 million after having sold for the two weeks prior.

“Meanwhile, local retailers ended their three-week period of net selling, buying RM167.0 million last week.

“The average daily trading volume (ADTV) showed a decrease among local retailers (27.7%), local institutions (29.4%) and foreign investors (35.2%),” it said.

Commenting on the global situation, MIDF said only five out of 20 major indices that it tracked recorded gains last week.

“This was led by the FTSE 100 (1.59%), DAX 40 (1.35%) and the Sensex (0.90%).

“The top decliners for the week were the Nikkei 225 (5.98%), CSI 300 (3.67%) and the TAIEX (3.28%),” it said.