KUALA LUMPUR (April 23): Foreign investors acquired RM582 million of Malaysian equity on Bursa Malaysia last week, up from RM324.7 million the prior week, according to MIDF Amanah Invesment Bank Bhd Research.

In his weekly fund flow report today, MIDF Research's Adam M Rahim said this was the fifth time in 2018 that weekly foreign buying levels exceeded RM500 million.

He said foreign investors exhibited a commendable start on Monday, buying RM111.6 million net of local equities.

"The mood turned slightly sombre on Tuesday as investors turned cautious on China's economic, selling RM68.1 million net (or US$17.5 million) of local stocks.

"Nonetheless, Malaysia had the second lowest attrition on Tuesday after the Philippines which experienced a net outflow of US$8.70 million that day," he said.

Adam said global investors slowly returned to Bursa on Wednesday, acquiring RM87.9 million net following the rally on Wall Street overnight.

"The highlight of the week was on Thursday when foreign investors pumped in RM430 million net worth of funds into Bursa, the highest level since March 2017," he said.

Adam said heavy inflows were also seen in Asian peers amid increasing Brent crude oil prices.

He said the FBM KLCI followed suit from the influx of foreign funds to end the day at a record high of 1,895 points.

"Meanwhile on Friday, foreign inflows to Bursa tapered to RM20.6 million net as investors cashed in gain from Thursday's rally. More importantly, Malaysia bucked the trend in Asia as other regional peers especially in North Asia saw outflows spurred by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd's murky outlook," he said.

He said on a year-to-date basis, foreigners have so far accumulated RM3.44 billion net of local equities.

"Meanwhile, foreign investors have been net buyers in 13 out of the 16 weeks this year compared to 14 during the same period in 2017," he said.

Adam said both foreign and retail participation remained healthy as both of their average daily trade value stood above the RM1 billion level for the 15th and 12th week so far in 2018, respectively.