Julius Baer International Equity Fund investment fund, the biggest foreign institutional investor on the Romanian capital market, closed almost no deal on the Bucharest Stock Exchange during the period January 31-April 30, according to fund reports.

The Stock Exchange has lost 37 percent since the beginning of the year, at the level of BET index, which late last week reached a two-year low, after having slumped by more than 20 percent in the past month.

The declines the Bucharest Stock Exchange has witnessed in recent months have been accounted for by the absence of foreign investors from the market, particularly on the purchasing side. The same foreign investors had swollen the market in the first half of last year through their aggressive purchases.

Julius Baer's fund was one of the most important buyers on RASDAQ market in the first nine months of last year, acquiring stakes in companies such as Albalact Alba-Iulia (ALBZ) dairy producer, Cemacon Zalau (CEON) brick producer or Concefa Sibiu (COFI) constructions company, which boasted some of the biggest increases last year.

The fund's portfolio of Romanian stock at the end of April was unchanged compared with the one published in late January, while the value of its placements on the Bucharest Stock Exchange dropped by around 5 million dollars following the market's decline during this period.

The fund's placements in Romania totalled 242 million dollars(around 152 million euros), being 45 percent lower than at the end of April 2007, when they had hit a record high of 446 million dollars (280 million euros).

The fund cut back on its interests in the third quarter of last year, when it sold part of the stock it owned in SIFs and banks, but since the end of October 2007 it has carried out almost no operation on the Romanian market. The fund's most important placements are in Petrom