(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign investors offloaded South Korean stocks and bonds worth US$4.3 billion in September due to profit-taking amid North Korea risks, the central bank said Wednesday.
Foreign investors sold local stocks and bonds worth $830 million and $3.47 billion, respectively, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said.
It marked the second straight month of sell-offs by foreign investors. In August, they sold South Korean stocks and bonds worth $3.25 billion, marking the first month of sell-offs since November 2016, when foreign investors offloaded South Korean stocks and bonds worth $490 million.
Tensions have spiked on the Korean Peninsula following North Korea’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test and a series of ballistic missile tests.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump have recently engaged in a war of words, sparking concerns about a possible military conflict on the peninsula.
Meanwhile, volatility in South Korea’s currency markets increased slightly in September from a month earlier due to increased volatility in the global financial markets.
The session-over-session changes in the dollar-won exchange rates averaged 0.37 percent in September, compared with 0.34 percent a month earlier, the BOK said.
On average, the Korean won posted 4.3 won in daily value changes against the U.S. dollar in September, down from 4.8 won a month earlier, it said.
The won finished at 1,128.9 against the greenback Oct. 13, compared with 1,145.4 won at the end of September, the BOK said.
The credit default swaps premium for foreign exchange stabilization bonds came to 70 basis points in September, up from 62 basis points a month earlier, the bank added.
(Yonhap)
