KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign investors are returning to the Malaysian equity market, although it is still early days, says MIDF Research.It said on Monday preliminary data from Bursa showed foreigners mopped up RM382.8mil net in the week ended Jan 13, the highest since the third week of September.The research house said that stronger economic data coming out since the new year showed that the Malaysian economy remained stable.It pointed out these include stronger exports and growth in retail sales (9% on-year) and industrial production (6.2% on-year), all for November.Recall that foreigners were marginal net sellers as the market opened on Monday and Tuesday.However, the selling ended abruptly on Wednesday as foreigners turned net purchasers at RM130mil.The inflow peaked on Thursday as foreigners bought RM226mil, the highest since Oct 18, 2016. It receded on Friday, in line with regional trend.“Of significance is the strong increase inforeign participation. Foreign average daily trade value (ADTV) rose to RM848mil, 40% higher compared with that the week before. It is also nearing last year’s average participation of RM957mil,” said the research house.MIDF Research also pointed out local players took the opportunity of foreign buying to clear some position. “We note that the retail market is currently active, with participation rate the highest since August,” it said.

Source: The Star January 16, 2017 02:22 UTC