KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 4): Foreign investors increased their acquisition of local equities on Bursa Malaysia to RM273.3 million last week, from RM88.6 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 foreign investors were net buyers on all four trading days last week, the longest buying binge since September.

“Monday recorded the highest amount of foreign buying at RM92.2 million net, amid the rally in crude oil prices during the week before.

“Foreign buying then went down to RM31.3 million net on Wednesday, as investors stayed on the sidelines as they waited for Sime Darby Bhd’s trading to resume after a three-day suspension and the debut of Sime Darby Plantations Bhd and Sime Darby Property Bhd on Thursday,” Adam added.
 
Adam said another possible explanation for Wednesday’s reduced foreign buying could be North Korea’s missile launch.
 
Nonetheless, he said foreign investors upped their ante on Thursday as they acquired RM62.80 million net as positive quarterly earnings buffered the fall of Sime Darby’s spin-off entities on the first day of trading.
 
“We note that the trend of foreign inflow into Bursa bucked the majority of its Asian peers.
 
“Last week’s inflow has brought the year-to-date foreign purchase to RM9.37 billion, from RM9.10 billion in the week before,” he said.  
 
Adam said November was the fourth month of foreign selling this year, but it is noteworthy that the level of attrition has shrunk to -RM15.4 million net, compared with the previous months which ranged from RM200 million to RM700 million.
 
He said foreign participation spiked last week, as the foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) soared by 192% to RM2.5 billion, due to the rebalancing of the MSCI index.
 
“In contrast, the retail market was rather subdued, as the retail ADTV remained below RM850 million for the second week running,” Adam said.