In its weekly fund flow report, MIDF Research noted that net buying occurred from Monday to Wednesday, with Wednesday recording the highest net foreign inflow at RM106.4 million.

“However, foreigners turned into net sellers by the end of the week, probably prompted by the release of two weak economic data points last week,” it said.

Last Friday, the investment, trade and industry ministry reported that Malaysia’s total exports in July fell by 13.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM116.75 billion, while total imports shrank by 15.9% y-o-y to RM99.66 billion.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s gross domestic product grew at a slower-than-expected rate of 2.9% y-o-y in the second quarter of 2023.

Year-to-date, MIDF Research noted that foreign investors have been net sellers of domestic equities at RM2.41 billion.

“The top three sectors that posted net foreign inflows were property (RM165.3 million), technology (RM27.4 million) and plantation (RM23.9 million).

“Meanwhile, the top three sectors with net foreign outflows were industrial products and services (-RM106.5 million), healthcare (-RM49.6 million) and real estate investment trusts (-RM27.1 million),” the research firm said.

At the same time, local institutions turned into net buyers at RM76.1 million after net selling for the past five weeks.

Year-to-date, it said the local institutions have been net buyers at RM2.76 billion.

Conversely, local retailers remained as net sellers for the sixth consecutive week, disposing of RM128.8 million worth of domestic equities last week.

“Year-to-date, local retailers have been net sellers at RM348.9 million,” said MIDF Research.

In terms of participation, the average daily trading volume had increased across the board – retail investors at 24.9%, local institutions at 28.2% and foreign investors at 11.9%.