KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia continued to miss out on the big money flow currently being experienced in broader Asia, as evidenced by the flow of funds data last week, said MIDF Research.

In his weekly fund flow report yesterday, MIDF Research head Zulkifli Hamzah said for the fourth consecutive week, foreign investors offloaded Malaysian equity in the open market, excluding off-market deals.

He said last week, the amount sold on Bursa Malaysia exceeded RM100 million again and was at RM108.9 million net, compared with RM141.6 million sold the week before.

Zulkifli said foreign portfolio investors were net sellers every single week in November.

“For the month, foreign investors sold RM307.5 million. For the year to November, the net outflow was RM4 billion, already exceeding the RM3 billion net inflow in 2013.

“There was relatively heavy selling on [last] Friday, as foreigners sold RM111.4 million. That was the heaviest outflow in 27 trading days,” he said.

Zulkifli said the selldown by foreigners was still taking place amid moderate volume.

However, he said foreign participation rate picked up last week although it was still below RM1 billion.

He said the daily average gross purchase and sale amounted to RM972 million, the highest in five weeks. “We would be wary of any pick-up in activity while the prevailing sentiment is negative.”

Zulkifli, however, said that on a slightly positive note, the retail market had been supporting the market, mopping up shares for the fourth week running.

He said retailers bought RM12 million last week, and had purchased RM276 million in the last four weeks.

“However, the buying was passive, as participation rate was only RM737 million. Only those with holding power appear to be in the market.

“Local institutions supported the market slightly last week, buying RM96.9 million net. However, participation rate stayed below RM2 billion at only RM1.97 billion. The prospect for a strong window dressing in December is dimming,” he said.

Commenting on the region, Zulkifli said the stock markets in many countries rallied for the sixth consecutive week.

He said this was partly buoyed by the fall in oil price, as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries kept its output target at 30 million barrels per day over the next six months.

The price of Brent crude closed at US$72.58 (RM249.68) per barrel, the lowest in four years, he said.

Zulkifli said on Wall Street, sentiment rose on evidence that the economic growth momentum was getting stronger. US third quarter of 2014 gross domestic product growth was revised upwards to 3.9% from 3.5%.

He said that in Asia, oil-dependent nations were benefiting from the low price situation, adding that North Asia was rallying with China leading the way.

Zulkifli said China’s CSI300 index gained a massive 8.7%, the highest in a week since April 2008. Meanwhile, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan all closed the week in the positive.

“For the fifth week running, Asia was a clear beneficiary of global portfolio money. Last week, another big wave hit the region.

“Unfortunately, Malaysia continued to miss out on the big money flow,” he said.

“December has historically been a good month for Bursa. But the outlook this year is not so rosy. The money market, in particular, is bearish,” he added.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 2, 2014.