KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 21): Foreign selling of Malaysian equity on Bursa Malaysia continued last week but narrowed to RM48.5 million, from RM63.1 million the prior week, according to MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd Research.

In its weekly fund flow report today, the MIDF Research strategy team said foreign funds were net sellers in two out of five trading days.

“Foreign selling peaked on Friday, reaching a six-week high, as foreigners disposed RM110.4 million net.

“The attrition on Friday happened amid dampened sentiment following the terrorist attack in Barcelona and the resignation of White House strategist, Steven Bannon,” MIDF Research said.

The research team said the weekly attrition was in line with those seen by regional peers, notably Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan.

It said last week’s foreign attrition brings this year's total attrition to seven.

MIDF Research said the cumulative year-to-date inflow still stands at RM10.7 billion net, despite two consecutive weeks of attrition.

It said foreign participation rate continued to decline for the week.

“The foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) remained slightly above RM600 million, but the decline was very small, only dipping by 1%.

“Retail participation was resilient, as the retail ADTV only decreased by 6% from RM882 million to above RM830 million last week, marking its third consecutive week of being above RM800 million,” MIDF Research said.