KUALA LUMPUR: The foreign outflow on Bursa Malaysia accelerated to RM550.9mil from RM38.9mill in the previous week despite the Friday public holiday, according to MIDF Research data.

       "This was the second week of outflow after seven weeks prior of net inflow by foreign investors," said the research firm.

       The selling by offshore investors came amid an escalation of of fears over the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus as well as the US Federal Reserve's hawkish stance.

       For the trading week ended last Thursday, the FBM KLCI was down 0.69% despite the improved performance of Malaysia's factory activities in November, as represented by the IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI reading of 52.3 points.

       Foreign investors were net sellers every day of the previous trading week, except for Monday. On Wednesday, net foreign outflow amounted to RM263.83mil, the largest amount for the week.

       Retail investors and local institutions meanwhile went the opposite direction, recording net purchases on everyday of the week except for Monday.

       Over the course of the week, retailers were net buyers of RM394.39mil worth of local equities while local institutions were cumulative weekly net buyers of RM156.52mil on Bursa.

       Year-to-date, only retailers have been net buyers of Malaysia stocks to the tune fo RM12.09bil

       Local institutions and foreign investors have been net sellers to the tune fo RM9.69bil and RM2.4bil.