Foreign institutional investors extended their net selling streak on Bursa Malaysia to a fifth consecutive week, recording net outflows of RM640.3 million last week, according to MBSB Research.
The selling persisted during a shortened trading week, with Bursa Malaysia closed on Monday in conjunction with the National Day holiday.
Foreign institutions were net sellers throughout the trading sessions, with the heaviest selling occurring on Tuesday when net outflows reached RM488.4 million.
This was followed by net selling of RM56.8 million on Wednesday, RM74.6 million on Thursday and RM20.5 million on Friday.
The figures indicate that Tuesday alone accounted for more than three-quarters of the week’s total foreign outflow.
At the sector level, Financial Services recorded the largest foreign net outflow at RM462.9 million, accounting for the bulk of foreign selling during the week.
Technology followed with net foreign outflows of RM118.8 million, while Utilities recorded RM106.8 million in net selling.
Despite the overall withdrawal of foreign funds, several sectors continued to attract overseas institutional interest.
Plantation stocks registered the strongest foreign net buying at RM138.2 million, followed by Transportation & Logistics at RM81.4 million and Energy at RM40.3 million.
The rotation suggests that while foreign investors remained net sellers of Malaysian equities overall, buying interest was concentrated in selected sectors.
Domestic investors continued to provide support to the market, with both local institutions and retail investors remaining net buyers.
Local institutional investors extended their net buying streak to six consecutive weeks, registering net inflows of RM120.3 million.
Retail investors were substantially more active on the buying side, recording RM520 million in net purchases and extending their net buying streak to a second week.
Combined, local institutions and retailers recorded approximately RM640.3 million in net purchases, effectively absorbing the foreign institutional selling recorded during the week.
Trading activity declined across all three investor categories during the shortened week.
Average daily trading volume (ADTV) among foreign institutions recorded the steepest decline, falling 30.5%.
Retail investor ADTV declined 10.8%, while trading volume among local institutions fell 9.4%.
The latest weekly outflow reinforces the cautious positioning of foreign investors towards Malaysian equities, with overseas institutions maintaining their selling streak despite continued domestic support.
MBSB’s data also point to a divergence in positioning across sectors, with foreign investors reducing their exposure most heavily to financial services and technology while continuing to accumulate plantation, transportation and logistics, and energy counters.
