KUALA LUMPUR (May 13): Foreign buying of Malaysian equities extended for the third consecutive week, albeit at a slight moderation of 9.3% to RM961.1 million last week from RM1.06 billion the prior week.

In its weekly fund flow report on Monday (May 13), MIDF Research noted that net buying activity was observed every trading day of last week, except for last Thursday (May 9). The trend of foreign investors as net buyers resumed last Friday, possibly influenced by Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision to keep the overnight policy rate steady at 3%.

The sectors that attracted the highest net foreign inflows were financial services (RM268.2 million), utilities (RM242.9 million), and transportation and logistics (RM114 million).

Conversely, the sectors that experienced net foreign outflows were industrial products and services (RM8.9 million) and real estate investment trusts (RM3.8 million).

MIDF added that local institutions continued their net selling trend for the second week in a row, with sales totalling RM724.9 million. Similarly, local retailers disposed of domestic equities for the ninth consecutive week, amounting to RM236.2 million.

In terms of participation, the average daily trading volume for local retailers increased by 17.4% and local institutions rose by 1.3%, while foreign investors saw a decline of 9.9%.

On the international front, MIDF noted that the majority of major markets performed well, with 15 out of the 20 indices it monitors posting gains. The top performers were Germany’s DAX 40 (up by 4.28%), France’s CAC 40 (up by 3.29%), and Stoxx Europe 600 (up by 3.01%).

The top decliners were India’s Sensex (down by 1.64%), the Philippines’ PSEi (down by 1.57%), and Indonesia’s JCI (down by 0.64%).