KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 31): Foreign investors bought Malaysian equity to the tune of RM110.3 million last week offsetting a significant portion of the RM143 million outflow recorded the week prior, according to the MIDF Research Strategy team.

In its fund flow report today, MIDF Research said foreign trading was active on Tuesday, as trading value exceeded RM1 billion for the first time this year, but added that the momentum was lost as expected as the market edged towards Friday.

“The heaviest foreign buying was recorded on Thursday, as net purchases surged to RM173 million, the second highest this year.

“It coincided with heavy buying in some markets in the region, notably Korea and Thailand,” it said.

MIDF Research said that of significance for the local market is that foreign participation rate held up pretty well.

It said average daily trade value (ADTV) declined by only 2.3%, which it said is commendable as Bursa Malaysia was open for trading only in the first half of Friday.

“As expected, retailers retreated significantly from the market, yanking out RM142.5 million net, the highest weekly attrition since September last year.

“Participation rate, based on the ADTV fell 26% to RM412 million,” it said.