KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia registered a 22nd straight week of foreign outflow as offshore investors shirked local equities in favour of safe haven assets amid the escalation of global trade disputes.
Foreign funds sold RM1.25bil net of Malaysian equities last week, slightly less than RM1.34bil in net selling recorded in the previous week, according to MIDF Research in its weekly fund flow report.
The exodus of foreign funds was observed across the Asian region. According to MIDF, the only Asian countries it monitored that recorded net foreign inflows last week were South Korea and the Philippines.
On Bursa Malaysia, only the plantations sector experienced a net inflow of foreign investment, to the sum of RM2.4mil.
The sectors that led the foreign outflow were financial services (RM609.7mil), industrial products and services (RM167.9mil) and consumer products and services (RM148.4mil).
Also for the 22nd consecutive week, local institutions have been supporting the local market with net purchases of RM1.23bil.
Local retail investors were net buyers for a sixth straight week, with a net inflow of RM25.5mil.
The average daily trading volume (ADTV) saw broad-based decrease, except for foreign investors, said MIDF.
Local institutions and local retail recorded a decline of 11.9% and 14.8%, respectively, while foreign investors saw an increase of
27.4%.
