Foreign investors offloaded nearly 32 trillion won ($22.8 billion) worth of listed shares last month, marking seven consecutive months of net selling.
The Financial Supervisory Service released foreign securities investment data Friday showing foreign investors net sold 31.66 trillion won in shares last month, down about 18 trillion won from the previous month's 49.34 trillion won.
Net selling totaled 30.78 trillion won on the Kospi and 889 billion won on the Kosdaq.
As a result, foreign investors' total holdings of listed shares stood at 2,255.5 trillion won as of the end of last month, a decrease of about 653 trillion won from the previous month. Their ownership stake as a share of total market capitalization fell to 35.8 percent from 36.4 percent the prior month, which had set an all-time high.
By region, Europe led net selling at 25.7 trillion won, followed by Asia at 5.2 trillion won and the Middle East at 1.6 trillion won. The Americas were the exception, posting net purchases of 1.1 trillion won.
The bond market, by contrast, extended its net investment streak to four consecutive months. Foreign investors net purchased 4.77 trillion won in listed bonds and received 2.38 trillion won in maturity redemptions, resulting in net investment of 2.39 trillion won.
By region, Asia (2.7 trillion won), the Americas (2.2 trillion won) and the Middle East (1.6 trillion won) all posted net investment, while Europe recorded net withdrawals of 4.4 trillion won.
By bond type, foreign investors made net investments of 2.6 trillion won in government bonds and net withdrawals of 200 billion won in special bonds.
Total holdings of listed bonds rose 1.3 trillion won from the previous month to 336.1 trillion won, representing 11.7 percent of total listed bond outstanding.
yuni@heraldcorp.com
