KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 — Local institutions persisted in their net buying of Malaysian equities on Bursa Malaysia for the fifth consecutive week at RM587.7 million last week, according to MIDF Research.

In its latest weekly Fund Flow Report, the research house said that unlike foreign investors, they recorded a net selling of RM11.9 million today, followed by a net buying of RM599.6 million from Tuesday to Friday.

"However, local retailers sustained their net selling streak last week, totalling RM152.7 million, selling every trading day for the past 16 days,” it said.

Meanwhile, MIDF said foreign investors continued to sustain their selling trend on Bursa Malaysia for the fifth consecutive week, with a net sale of equities amounting to RM435.1 million, marking a 38.6 per cent increase compared to the previous week.

"The three-day net buying streak by the foreigners ended on Monday, amounting to RM13.7 million.

"On Monday, official data revealed that Malaysia’s leading index expanded by 3.2 per cent year-on-year in January 2024 indicating a more promising outlook in the forthcoming months. However, starting from Tuesday onward, net selling resumed,” it noted.

The research house said the sectors with the highest net foreign inflows last week were property (RM87.1 million), construction (RM20.2 million) and energy (RM16.9 million).

While the sectors that recorded the highest net foreign outflows were financial services (RM210.8 million), consumer products and services (RM123.3 million) and plantation (RM94.7 million).

In terms of participation, the research house said the average daily trading volume decreased for retail and institutional investors by 0.9 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.

However, foreign investors recorded a slight increase of 0.5 per cent, it added. — Bernama