Retail investors taking a backseat

Rakuten Trade head of equity sales Vincent Lau, who agrees that retail participation may decline, said that many retail investors are taking a wait-and-see approach. However, he does not think retail participation will dwindle to pre-pandemic levels.

PETALING JAYA: Retail investors may take a backseat in 2022 after single-handedly propping up the domestic stock market last year amid heavy net selling by local institutional funds and foreign investors.

With inflation rearing its head again and the government unlikely to announce major new stimulus, retail investors could be pumping less liquidity into the market this year.