KUALA LUMPUR, 2 January 2024: Foreign investors bought into Bursa Malaysia equities in the final week of 2023 trading for a net purchase of RM165.4mil, data provided by MIDF Research showed.

This represented a third straight week of net foreign inflow to the Malaysian market, which tracked the growing foreign interest in other Asian markets as global equities rallied amid a return of risk appetite.

During the Christmas holiday-shortened week, the Malaysian sectors with the highest net foreign inflows were technology (RM213.1mil), energy (RM45mil) annd industrial products and services (RM37mil).

Meanwhile, the sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were financial services (RM93.5mil), healthcare (RM59.8mil) and construction (RM27.8mil).

Local institutional investors remained net sellers for a second straight week at RM189.6mil, which was a 77.7% increase over the prior week.

Local retailers were net purchasers of RM4.3mil of Malaysian equities after having been net sellers in the the two previous weeks.

"In terms of participation, there was an increase in average daily trading volume (ADTV) among local institutions by 11.6% while local retailers and foreign investors saw declines of 4.3% and 22% respectively," said MIDF.