KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign investors continued their buying spree on Bursa Malaysia for the third consecutive week, snapping up equities worth RM637.8 million last week-- the highest since more than a year ago when they net bought RM1.18 billion during the week ended March 18, 2022.

In its Fund Flow Report for the trading week ending July 28, MIDF Research said that the foreign investors net sold RM18.6 million on Monday but turned into net buyers for the rest of the week.

"The highest net inflow came in on Friday at RM181.4 million. Between Tuesday and Friday, net inflows from foreign investors averaged RM164.1 million per day," it said.

The top three sectors which saw net inflows by foreign investors last week were utilities (RM253.4 million), plantation (RM127.8 million) and financial services (RM86.3 million).

Meanwhile, three sectors experienced net outflows last week, namely real estate investment trusts (REITs) (-RM22.6 million), industrial products and services (-RM22.4 million) and telecommunications and media (-RM8.0 million).

"Year-to-date (YTD), foreign investors have net sold RM3.06 billion," it said.

The research house said that in contrast to foreign investors, local institutions had net bought on Monday at RM54.0 million but were net sellers for the rest of the week.

"This is their third consecutive week of net selling at RM403.9 million, the highest since the week ended August 19, 2022, which saw net selling at RM675.9 million.

"Similarly, local retailers also net sold for the third consecutive week at RM233.7 million, with net selling at RM35.4 million on Monday, RM63.8 million on Tuesday, RM54.3 million on Wednesday, RM56.3 million on Thursday and RM24.0 million on Friday, bringing their net selling to RM67.9 million YTD," it said.

In terms of participation, MIDF Research said the average daily trading volume (ADTV) had increased across the board, rising by 2.5 per cent among retail investors and 7.3 per cent among local institutions and foreign investors.

-- BERNAMA