The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: There was a continued outflow of offshore funds from Malaysia's stock exchange in the previous trading week amid an improved outlook among major regional markets.
According to MIDF Research, foreign investors continued to net sell Malaysian equities to the tune of RM168.5mil, which was more than three times higher than the amount net sold in the week ended Jan 13.
The research firm added that while Bank Negara surprised the market by maintaining its overnight policy rate at 2.75% on Thursday, economists believe the lending rate may be raised by another 26 basis points at the upcoming monetary policy meeting in March as core inflation remains elevated.
Year-to-date, foreigners have net sold RM142.9mil of Malaysian equities.
MIDF said the top three sectors with the heaviest foreign inflows last week were energy (RM31mil), healthcare (RM30.5mil) and technology (RM21.3mil).
The top three sectors with the most foreign outflows were financial services (RM272.4mil), industrial products and services (RM9.9mil) and transport and logistics (RM2.4mil).
Meanwhile local institutions remained net buyers on the local bourse for a second straight week to the tune of RM391.6mil.
Local retailers were net sellers of RM223.1mil, which was a second straight week of outflow.
"This could be due to profit taking ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday," said MIDF.
It added that participation in the domestic market fell with average daily trading volume for local retailers dropping 10.5%, local institutions sliding 10.3% and foreign investors falling 11.9%.
