Foreign tide returns to Bursa

PETALING JAYA: The foreign tide returned to Bursa Malaysia last week after three successive weeks of attrition as foreigners turned net buyers last week despite the short trading week of three days.
For the week, foreign funds acquired RM36.2 million net based on transactions in the open market, excluding off market deals, marking the lowest weekly foreign acquisition for the year, said MIDF Research.
“We note that the six-day selling streak was snapped on Monday as global funds acquired RM7.10 million net on that day. Foreign buying momentum increased the next day by seven times to RM52.2 million net.
“However on Wednesday, international fund managers cleared their positions ahead of the long weekend, disposing RM23.1 million net,” it said in its fund flow report today.
It noted that August was the first month of net outflows this year, which amounted to RM241.9 million net. Nonetheless, cumulative year to date net inflow still stands above the RM10 billion mark.
Foreign participation rate was resilient last week as foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) remained above RM800 million for the fifth week in a row.
Meanwhile, retail participation edged higher for the week with retail ADTV increasing by 25% to RM865 million after being below RM700 million for three straight weeks.