KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign investors turned net sellers of Malaysian equities over the Chinese New Year holiday-shortened trading week to the tune of RM160.7mil after three weeks of foreign inflow.

       According to MIDF Research data, the momentum of foreign fund flow on Bursa Malaysia switched gears last Monday as foreign investors sold RM131.68mil net of local equities on the market.

       However, the pace of foreign selling slowed by Friday with RM19.48mil net of local equities sold.

       Retailers remained ner buyers over the course of the week despite being net sellers on Monday and Thursday.

       Retail investors bought RM24.17mil net of equities on Friday to end the week with a net purchase of RM5.24mil in Bursa equities.

       Local institutions were also net buyers to the tune of RM155.47mil. The largest net purchase amount of RM142.02il occured on Monday.

       MIDF reported that there was a 2.9% increase in the participation of retail investors while retail investors and local institutions saw decreased average daily trade value of 17.66% and 33.24% for the week.