KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 2): Foreign investors sold local equities on Bursa Malaysia to the tune of RM669.52 million in October, said MIDF Research.

In its weekly fund flow report, MIDF said for the week ended on Oct 30, foreign selling slowed to RM190.04 million from RM214.4 million the prior week.

MIDF said as the market reopened last Monday, foreign investors bought RM89.80 million net of local equities, with retailers and local institutions as net sellers at RM27.19 million and RM62.61 million respectively.

“However, this inflow was negated as the week went by, with net selling gaining momentum and external markets influencing investors’ decisions.

“The largest outflow was on Friday at RM279.83 million and the smallest outflow was on Wednesday at RM118.78 million,” it said.

MIDF said so far in 2020, foreign investors' net selling had reached RM23.0 billion worth of equities on Bursa.

In comparison to another three Southeast Asian markets that it tracked last week, Indonesia recorded the least foreign net outflow, while Thailand experienced the biggest outflow compared to the others.

MIDF said in terms of retail participation, last week saw retailers turned net buyers with RM106.43 million worth of equities, while local institutions net bought RM83.61 million during the same period.

It said last week also marked a reversal to net buying after a slight pause in momentum two weeks ago.

The research house said it was the third week where there was stronger net buying by retailers after three consecutive weeks as net sellers previously.

“This is a potential signal for the return of buying appetite for retailers with bargain-hunting activities and renewed interest in glove stocks with a surge in [new] Covid-19 cases against a volatile Malaysian political backdrop.

“Net buying amounted to RM11.66 billion came from retailers thus far in 2020, while institutions bought to the tune of RM10.96 billion,” it said.

MIDF said in terms of participation, retail investors recorded a weekly decrease of 27.64% in average daily trading value (ADTV), while foreign investors experienced decrease in ADTV of 11.91% and local institutions 19.92%.