KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign funds resumed their selling of Malaysian equities after the recent spate of buying as they locked in their profits ahead of the extended weekend for the Chinese New Year holidays next week.
BIMB Securities Research said foreign funds were net sellers on Wednesday at –RM100.4mil while local institutions were net buyers at RM91.6mil and retail investors at RM8.8mil.
The FBM KLCI ended lower on Wednesday, following the Wall Street overnight, falling 19.88 points or 1.20% to 1,633.30 weighed down by losses in energy counters.
“We expect the local market to hover around 1,625to 1,640,” it said on Thursday.
BIMB Research said the rebound in oil prices failed to boost investor sentiment as European stocks closed lower, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index falling 1.6% on Wednesday.
Oil initially rose on news that Russia may be open to a deal with OPEC in order to cut production.
Wall Street closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P completing a massive comeback spurred by a surge in oil.
The DJI Average ended the day higher by 183.12 points or 1.13% to 16,336.66 while the S&P 500 gained 9.50 points or 0.50% to 1,912.53.
In Asian, equities fell broadly overnight, with the Nikkei 225 index dropping 3.1%.
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