KUALA LUMPUR: Local institutions have maintained their net buying stance for the third consecutive week, snapping up RM618.3 million worth of equities on Bursa Malaysia last week.

MIDF Research said local institutions net bought every day during the week, with the strongest net buying activity seen last Monday at RM221.7 million.

Conversely, foreign investors disposed of RM613.0 million worth of shares last week.

"The week saw foreign investors net selling every day, with most outflow seen on Monday at RM208.7 million, and they have been selling for six consecutive days," it said in its fund flow report for the week ended Oct 20, 2023.

There were only three sectors that saw net buying by foreign investors, namely utilities (RM28.5 million), property (RM20.8 million) and real estate investment trusts (RM5.4 million).

Sectors with the highest amount of net outflows were financial services (RM337.1 million), consumer products and services (RM100.6 million) and telecommunications and media (RM51.4 million).

Year-to-date, foreign investors have net sold RM3.73 billion, it added.

Similarly, local retailers continued being net sellers on Bursa Malaysia, though at a much-moderated amount of RM5.3 million compared to RM147.1 million the week before.

Year-to-date, they have net sold RM660.6 million.

In terms of participation, the average daily trading volume (ADTV) among foreign investors rose by 31.6 per cent, while participation by retail and institutional investors declined by 2.2 per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively.