KUALA LUMPUR (June 18): Foreign selling of Malaysian equity on Bursa Malaysia rose to RM1.21 billion last week from RM903.1 million the prior week, according to MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd Research.
In his weekly fund flow report today, MIDF Research's Adam M Rahim said this also marked the seventh week of foreign attrition, matching the longest uninterrupted period of selling seen in 2017 from the week ended Sept 22 to Nov 3, 2017.
He said as of last Friday (June 15), the selling streak has been extended to 28 days, just one day shy of the 29-day selling spree in early January to mid-February 2014.
"Monday's attrition hovered above the RM200 million level at RM216.5 million before rising to RM359.0 million net on Tuesday.
"Investors were nervous on Tuesday amid the historic summit between the US and North Korea which also dragged the FBM KLCI down by 0.66% to 1,764 points. Selling activity on Wednesday returned to Monday's level as global investors only sold RM230.4 million net amid dampened risk-on mood as investors awaited the Fed's decision on interest rates," he said.
Adam said foreign selling peaked during the week on Thursday at RM402.2 million net before the local bourse was closed for the Aidilfitri break on Friday.
"It is noteworthy that other Asian counterparts such as Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and Thailand also experienced huge outflows that day spurred by the Fed's rate hike.
"Malaysia had the second largest weekly outflow among the four ASEAN markets we monitor, after Thailand," he said.
Nonetheless, Adam said the year-to-date outflow from Malaysia of RM4.23 billion net or US$1.06 billion net is still the lowest among its ASEAN peers, namely Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.
He said foreign participation was strong as the foreign average daily trade value increased by 24% to RM2.03 billion, logging its 11th straight week above the RM1 billion mark.
He said the retail market and local funds, meanwhile, saw buying activity for its fifth and seventh straight week, respectively.