KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 2): After dumping shares listed on Bursa in the first three weeks of 2016, foreign investors returned with a proverbial bang last week, mopping up local shares at a rate not seen for an extended period of time, according to MIDF Research.

In his weekly fund flow report today, MIDF Research head Zulkifli Hamzah said total amount of equities purchased by foreigners, net of sales, hit RM1,234.7 million last week, estimated based on transactions in the open market and excluded off market deals.

He said any amount exceeding RM1 billion was a rare occurrence for the Malaysian market, and last week’s numbers were the highest since the fi rst week of April 2013, just prior to the General Election.

Zulkifli said net foreign buying was recorded throughout the week.

He said the buying picked up on Wednesday and exceeded RM300 million on Thursday, the first time the threshold was surpassed since 9 October last year.

He said on Friday, the buying turned into a frenzy, as foreign investors loaded up RM706.1 million.

“It was the highest since the RM1,431 million and RM989.8 million purchased on May 6 and 7, 2013 respectively, in the aftermath of the General Election.

“Last week’s strong foreign purchases meant that the outfl ow for the month of January shrunk to only RM975 million net. For the entire 2015, the net outflow was RM19.5 billion,” he said.

Zulkifli said foreign participation rate (average daily traded value of shares) surged last week to RM1,372 million, the first time it exceeded RM1 billion this year and the highest since the trading week ended October 16.

He said on Friday, foreign participation hit a massive RM2.46 billion, only the 8th occasion that the RM2 billion had been broken since the start of 2015.

He said local institutions and retailers took the opportunity of foreign buying to offload RM1.12 billion and RM117 million respectively.

“The participation rate of local institutions surged to RM2.84 billion but retail activity remained surprisingly subdued, with trade averaging RM713 million, dropping from RM827 million the week before,” he said.