Reeling in reluctant retailers

CGS International's Chehan Perera said the interest in large-cap stocks on Bursa appeared to have come at the expense of retail participation.

PETALING JAYA: While retail investors are active on major exchanges, their participation has eased on Bursa Malaysia despite the market benchmark posting 8.34% gains year-to-date (y-t-d) and being within an earshot of the 1,600-point level.

MIDF Research noted that in the first three months of the year, local retailers net sold RM1.3bil worth of stocks and their trading activity fell to 19.5% of total trades in February and March from above a 25% average over 12 months prior.