KUALA LUMPUR (May 17): Foreign investors continued to be net sellers of Malaysian equities last week, which saw an outflow amounting to RM108.14 million — lower than the previous week due to last week being a holiday-shortened one.

MIDF Research said since the beginning of 2021, cumulatively, retailers have been the only net buyers of the equity market to the tune of RM6.25 billion.

Local institutions and foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of RM2.94 billion and RM3.31 billion respectively, it noted in its weekly fund flow report today.

As the market reopened last Monday, foreign investors sold RM37 million net of local equities, with retailers and local institutions both as net buyers to the tune of RM10.97 million and RM26.03 million respectively, according to MIDF Research.

"Foreign investors were net sellers every day. The largest foreign outflow was recorded on Tuesday at RM67.81 million and the smallest outflow was on Wednesday at RM3.33 million. There was no inflow recorded last week," it said.

As for retailers, they were net sellers every day except for Monday. The largest net selling by retailers was recorded on Tuesday at RM75.66 million and the smallest net selling was on Wednesday at RM12.86 million. The only inflow recorded amounted to RM10.97 million.

"Cumulatively, for the week, retailers net sold RM77.55 million worth of equities on Bursa Malaysia," the local research firm added.

Meanwhile, local institutions' cumulative weekly inflow was to the tune of RM185.59 million. The biggest net buying was on Tuesday at RM143.47 million, while the smallest net buying happened on Wednesday at RM16.19 million.

In terms of participation, MIDF Research said retail investors, local institutions and foreign investors recorded weekly decreases of 37.45%, 33.28% and 12.75% respectively in average daily trade value (ADTV).

Globally, major equity markets saw a weak performance on the back of rising inflation sentiment last week. The US Consumer Price Index for April increased by 4.2%, the biggest year-on-year (y-o-y) increase since 2008. In China, the inflation rate rose to 0.9% y-o-y in April, the highest reading since September 2020.

Brent crude oil prices saw a +0.63% weekly movement last week to close at US$68.71 (about RM284.15) per barrel last Friday.