KUALA LUMPUR (April 4): Foreign buying momentum of stocks listed on Bursa remained strong last week, which extended the current run to five consecutive weeks, according to MIDF Research.

In his weekly fund flow report today, MIDF Research head Zulkifli Hamzah said that for the fourth consecutive week, the amount of net foreign purchase had exceeded RM1 billion.

He said foreigners bought listed equities amounted to RM1.04 billion, compared with the RM1.37 billion acquired in the preceding week.

He said this was estimated based on transactions in the open market and excluded off market deals.

Zulkifli said foreign investors returned strongly to the local mart after laying low on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

He said the net amount bought on Tuesday to Thursday exceeded RM300 million per day, even hitting RM401 million on Wednesday, the fifth highest in a day this year.

“However, foreign investors turned net sellers on Friday, likely rattled by the -2.3% decline in Brent crude price on the day.

“Sentiment across the region was also weak on Friday. Nevertheless, the amount sold on Friday was small, only RM46.4 million,” he said.

Zulkifli said that for the month of March, cumulative net foreign purchases amounted to RM6.1 billion.

He said that even exceeded the cumulative inflow in April 2013, the month prior to the General Election, when foreign investors bought an estimated RM5.2 billion.

“We believe March 2016 was one of the highest months on record for foreign money inflow into listed equity in Malaysia.

“Meanwhile, last week’s foreign purchases boosted the cumulative year-to-date net inflow to RM5.5 billion, still relatively low compared with the RM19.5 billion net outflow for the whole of 2015,” he said.

Zulkifli said foreign shareholding on Bursa Malaysia now is estimated to be around 23%, up from the 4½-year low of 21.8% recorded at the end of December.

He said foreign shareholding was 25.2% at end-May 2013, the highest since the 1997–98 Asian Financial Crisis.

Zulkifli said that foreign participation rate rebounded 10%.

He said the average daily value of shares traded remained above RM1 billion for the fifth consecutive week at RM1.14 billion.

“The retail market remained soft as retailers reverted to selling.

“Participation rate was miserable, dropping below RM600 million for the first time in six weeks at RM588 million,” he said.