KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 8): Momentum for foreign tide into Bursa Malaysia ticked up last week and rose to RM301.8 million from RM105.5 million the week prior, according to MIDF Research.

In his weekly fund flow report today, MIDF Research head Zulkifli Hamzah said the estimates are based on transactions in the open market which excluded off-market deals.

Though foreign net inflow appeared marginal in general, it has been extended to the fifth successive week, he said.

"Foreign investors have voted their preference to Malaysia as Bursa commenced on Monday by actively loading up RM160.8 million.

"Nevertheless, the buying momentum was reversed on Tuesday with a net selling of RM22.3 million," he said.

Zulkifli said selling pressure continued to pile up on Wednesday as foreigners on net sold another RM56.7 million.

However, he said the selling momentum appeared transient as foreign investors turned net buyers again on Thursday with a net purchase of RM117.6 million.

Zulkifli said the buying pace persisted into Friday as foreigners increased their holdings by another RM102.4 million.

The cumulative net foreign inflow thus far this year into shares listed on Bursa has surpassed the RM1 billion level, he added.

As of last Friday, the year-to-date cumulative flow into Bursa increased to an estimated RM1.26 billion from RM959.3 million the week prior.

In retrospect, foreigners had offloaded RM19.5 billion and RM6.9 billion in 2015 and 2014 respectively, according to Zulkifli.

Meanwhile, he said foreign participation rate has demonstrated a sign of fatigue as it dropped significantly to RM761.2 million from RM945.6 million in the preceding week.

Zulkifli said it was the weakest participation rate thus far this year.

"The rate has been staying below the RM1 billion level for the eighth time in the past nine weeks.

"Local institution remained net sellers for the fifth consecutive week," he said.

Zulkifli said the selling pace has increased to RM334.9 million from RM92 million in the preceding week, while participation rate surged to RM2.21 billion from RM1.98 billion the week prior

It was the highest since May 13 this year, according to Zulkifli.

He said retail buyers finally ended their six-week-long selling trend on Bursa last week with a net purchase of RM33.1 million.

Meanwhile, their participation rate improved to RM605.5 million, up from previous week's RM560.8 million, he added.