(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign investors turned net sellers of South Korean stocks in August with their stock ownership hitting a four-year low, the financial regulator said Monday.
Offshore investors sold a net 1.07 trillion won (US$900 million) of local shares last month, a turnaround from net buying a month earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
Snapping a five-month selling streak, foreigners bought a net 582 billion won worth of local stocks in July.
Investors from the United States posted the largest amount of net selling with 656 billion won, followed by those from the United Arab Emirates with 593 billion won and investors from Singapore with 276 billion won.
In contrast, investors from Switzerland bought a net 219 billion won, trailed by those from Australia and the Netherlands with 176 billion won and 165 billion won, respectively.
As of end-August, foreign investors held South Korea stocks worth 589.2 trillion won, or 30 percent of the total market capitalization.
Meanwhile, foreign investors bought a net 997 billion won worth of listed South Korean bonds in August, marking the eight consecutive month of net buying.
Foreigners held 151 trillion won worth of South Korean bonds as of the end of August, up 800 billion won from July and taking up 7.5 percent of the value of all listed bonds.
(Yonhap)
