Foreign funds return to Bursa with RM292.2mil net equity purchases

KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign investors returned to Bursa Malaysia with a net purchase of RM292.2mil last week, in tandem with a renewed interest in the domestic market's blue chip counters.

Over the course of the week, the benchmark FBM KLCI hit a two-year high, tracking a global rally that was spurred on by positive quarterly results from big US technology companies.

The net foreign inflow ended eight weeks of net outflow from the domestic market.

According to MIDF Research, the sectors that saw the most foreign investor attention were utilities (RM285.8mil), financial services (RM105.3mil) and telecommunications and media (RM100.3mil).

On the flip side, sectors with the strongest foreign net selling were consumer products and services (RM223.2mil), plantations (RM68.5mil) and energy (RM31.6mil).

Local institutions remained net buyers for the ninth consecutive week with a net purchase of RM143.3mil while local retailers reamined net sellers for the seventh straight week for RM435.5mil.

"In terms of participation, the average daily trading volume (ADTV) declined for retail and foreign investors by 10.9% and 15.5% respectively. However, local institutions saw a slight uptick of 0.2%," said MIDF in its weekly fund flow report.