KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): Acquisition of local equities on Bursa Malaysia narrowed to RM772.2 million last week, from RM915.5 million the prior week, said MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd Research.

In his weekly fund flow report today, MIDF Research’s Adam M Rahim said that last week, foreign investors were net buyers on four out of five trading days.

He said foreign investors heavily entered into Bursa on Monday with a net buying totalling RM369.2 million, the highest acquisition in a day since 28 April 2017.

“We ascribe the intense foreign buying on Monday to the strengthening of the Ringgit to a 16-month high of USD/RM3.9975 and firmer oil prices.

“Thereafter, the foreign inflows began to gradually taper until Wednesday where it went below RM100 million net, in tandem with the decline of the FBM KLCI from 1,832 points on Monday

to 1,823 points on Wednesday,” he said.

Adam said foreign investors then turned net sellers on a marginal scale on Thursday as they sold off RM16.8 million net, snapping the buying streak of 12 trading days.

He said risk on mood was hampered on Thursday following the losses suffered by Wall Street on Wednesday due to concerns over the rapid rise in U.S treasury yields.

“Nonetheless, foreign buying regained its momentum on Friday with a net inflow of RM182.3 million which coincided with the 0.32% gain in the FBM KLCI.

“Sentiment on Bursa improved as Malaysia’s IPI grew by 5% yoy in November 2017,” he said.

Adam said looking at stocks, shares of Kuchai Development Bhd soared by 30% to an 11-year high of RM2.28 per share after news reporting that the company may be the biggest beneficiary from the listing of Great Eastern’s insurance arm in Malaysia.

He said foreign participation remained vibrant as the foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) stood above the RM1 billion mark at RM1.38 billion.

He said the retail ADTV was also impressive, reaching RM2.13 billion last week, a level not seen since February 2012.