KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 — The net amount of Malaysian equities off-loaded by global investors increased to RM967.3 million last week from RM477.7 million in the previous week, which is the highest weekly attrition recorded since the week ended Nov 18, 2016, said MIDF Research today. 

It noted that foreign attrition peaked on Tuesday as foreigners disposed US$254.8 million (RM1 billion), the largest outflow recorded in a day this year to-date.

“The heavy sell-off on Tuesday coincided with the 0.20 per cent dip in the FBM KLCI following North Korea’s perception of President Trump’s Twitter comments as a proclamation of war,” it said in a research note today.

MIDF Research said international investors were net sellers on every single trading day last week and as of last Friday, foreign investors had been selling for eight days straight, the longest selling spree since December 2017. 

For September, cumulative foreign net outflow amounted to RM737.3 million, a second consecutive month of attrition.

As a result, the cumulative net inflow to-date this year into shares listed on Bursa were dragged down to RM9.61 billion, below the RM10 billion level, added MIDF Research. 

On a quarterly basis, funds into Malaysia experienced a reversal of trend as the third quarter 2017 saw a net foreign outflow of RM558.3 million, which was a stark contrast from the second quarter net inflow RM4.43 billion.

MIDF Research said foreign participation rate gained momentum last week as the foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) surged by a staggering 46 per cent to reach above the RM1 billion mark to settle at RM1.26 billion.

“Gross trade of foreigners were above RM1 billion on four out of five trading days. It was the other way around for the retail market as the retail ADTV decreased by 8.0 per cent to drop below the RM1 billion mark,” it added.

Nestle registered the highest net money inflow of RM19.70 million last week but its share price, however, outperformed the FBM KLCI with a 0.14 per cent weekly loss.

Meanwhile, CIMB saw the largest net money outflow of RM21.48 million last week and its share price also slightly outperformed the market benchmark with a 0.79 per cent weekly loss. — Bernama