KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — Foreign investors continued to reposition their funds ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s anticipated easing this week, net buying RM217.6 million during 9-13 September, marking the fifth consecutive week of net purchases.

According to its fund flow report, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF) noted that foreign investors net bought shares on three out of five days during the week.

"However, they were net sellers of RM129.8 million on Wednesday (Sept 11) and RM95.1 million on Thursday (Sept 12).

"The top three sectors with the highest net foreign inflows were utilities (RM335.0 million), property (RM52.8 million) and construction (RM49.4 million),” the bank said.

Conversely, the sectors with the highest net foreign outflows were consumer products and services (RM71.2 million), financial services (RM47.3 million), and healthcare (RM35.4 million), MIDF reported.

MIDF said the local institutions ended a four-week streak of net selling by net buying RM3.5 million last week.

"They net sold RM274.6 million on Tuesday (Sept 10) and RM12.4 million on Friday (Sept 13), but were net buyers for the remainder of the week,” it said.

Local retailers, meanwhile, reverted to net selling, amounting to RM221.1 million, after briefly net buying RM162.2 million the previous week.

"They net bought RM16.7 million on Wednesday (Sept 11) but were net sellers for the rest of the week,” it added.

MIDF also reported that the average daily trading volume increased by 12.5 per cent among local institutions and by 10.6 per cent among foreign investors, while local retailers experienced a 5.4 per cent decline. — Bernama