“They net bought RM189.7 million on Tuesday but were net sellers for the rest of the week, with the highest net selling seen on Wednesday at (–RM268.3 million),” it said.

In its fund flow report for the week ended March 1, MIDF Research also said the sectors with the highest net foreign inflows were utilities (RM274 million), transportation (RM61.4 million), and telecommunications and media (RM31.2 million).

Meanwhile, sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were financial services (-RM515.9 million), industrial products and services (-RM107.6 million), and plantation (-RM76.1 million).

“As opposed to foreign investors, local institutions net bought RM443.5m after five straight weeks of net selling,” said MIDF Research.

The research house said local retailers also net bought RM59.6 million worth of equities last week, after net selling for three consecutive weeks.

In terms of participation, it said there were increases in average daily trading volume (ADTV) across all investor classes, with local retailers seeing an increase of 14%, while local institutions and foreign investors saw increases of 13.1% and 109.8%, respectively.

The research house reported a surge in net buying activity by foreign investors in Asia during February, totalling US$10.72 billion (RM50.69 billion) across the eight markets it monitored, which is a stark contrast to January’s figure of US$468.6 million (RM2.22 billion).

“This is the fourth consecutive month of net buying since November 2023,” it said.

On Bursa, foreign investors also remained net buyers for the fourth straight month at RM1.32 billion in February, almost double the amount in January which stood at RM678.4 million.