Malaysia sees biggest weekly equity outflow in over 20 months amid virus, political woes

[KUALA LUMPUR] Foreign investors bailed out of Malaysian stocks as they dumped RM1.26 billion (S$416.9 million) worth of equities last week - the highest in 88 weeks - as domestic political uncertainty added to worries over the coronavirus outbreak, data showed on Monday.

Malaysia swore in a new prime minister on Sunday after the shock resignation of veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad last Monday led to a week of political chaos.

On a monthly basis, February saw foreign net outflows of RM1.97 billion, the largest such selling since August 2019, according to data shared by brokerage MIDF citing the stock exchange.

The exchange did not immediately respond to a request to make the data available to Reuters.

Some of the biggest losers in the Feb 24-28 week were Public Bank, Malaysia Airports Holdings and energy and marine transportation company Yinson Holdings.

The top gainer was Top Glove Corp, the world's biggest glove maker that is seeing a massive demand for its products due to the spread of the virus. Top Glove also has a secondary listing on the Singapore bourse.

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On Sunday, Malaysia reported four new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 29.

REUTERS