KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Foreign tide into Bursa showed signs of receding last week, with net inflow tapering down to RM31.2 million from RM764.2 million the week prior, according to MIDF Research.

In his weekly fund flow report today, MIDF Research head Zulkifli Hamzah said foreigners were net buyers on Bursa on the first two trading days, and turned net sellers Wednesday onward.

“We note that the foreign buying momentum in the preceding week was carried forward when Bursa commenced on Monday as foreign investors loaded up RM167.6 million, with the buying pace moderated to RM65.6 million on Tuesday.

“However, Wednesday appeared as the turning point of the week as foreigners turned net seller after seven successive days of net purchases,” he said.

Zulkifli said they sold RM45.4 million on that day.

He said selling pressure ticked up on the following day as foreigners sold another RM76.3 million.

“The selling pace persisted into Friday as foreign investors reduced their holding on Bursa by another RM80.3 million.

“The cumulative net foreign inflow thus far this year into shares listed on Bursa was little changed,” he said.

Zulkifli said that as of last Friday, the year-to-date cumulative flow into Bursa edged up slightly to an estimated RM853.8 million from RM822.6 million the week prior.

He said that in retrospect, foreigners had offloaded RM19.5 billion and RM6.9 billion in 2015 and 2014 respectively.

He said foreign participation rate demonstrated significant moderation.

Zulkifli said it dropped by RM269 million to RM824.4 million from prior week’s RM1.09 billion.

He said this was the sixth time it stayed below the RM1 billion level in the past seven weeks.

He said local institution, on net, was non-player with a negligible selling of RM500,00 after offloading RM702.5 million in previous week.

Meanwhile, he said its participation rate retreated below the RM2 billion level to RM1.93 billion, down from RM2.1 billion from the week prior.

Zulkili said retail buyers continued to sell on Bursa, extending their selling trend to the fifth consecutive week.

He said the selling magnitude moderated to RM30.7 million, compared to RM61.4 million the week prior.

Meanwhile, he said their participation rate further improved to RM606.3 million, up from previous week’s RM541.4 million.