(Yicai Global) Jan. 23 -- Shares at state-owned appliance maker Gree Electric Appliances Inc. of Zhuhai [SHE:000651] hit a record high yesterday, but overseas and institutional investors appeared to lose interest in the firm.

Shareholders who invested via the Shenzhen Stock Connect program ranked top among Gree sellers as the firm's foreign capital made its way back out of the country, the bourse said yesterday evening. Institutional investors also made a net sale.

Its shares, which leapt 10 percent to the limit up after penning a record-breaking deal for solar air-con units in the US, were selling for as little as 18 percent off on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's block trading platform.

Gree wasn't the only appliance maker to hit a record high. Qingdao Haier Co. [SHA:600690], Midea Group Co. [SHE:000333] and Wuxi Little Swan Co. [SHE:000418] also hit new highs for the year, marking an industry-wide surge in stocks. Since the beginning of the year, the home appliance sector has seen an average rise of 7.54 percent, 1.23 points more than the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index and 2.08 points above the Shanghai Composite Index, according to a report by financial news outlet China Securities.

Gree penned a deal with PhoenixMart, an under-construction business-to-business marketplace in Arizona, a leading solar generator in the US. It didn't disclose the value of the deal, but the transaction for 1,200 solar air-con units was the largest of its kind in the country to date and could save the buyer CNY400 million (USD62 million) over the course of 30 years.