Reaching 600 Trillion Won

Foreign investors’ holdings of Korean stocks reached nearly 600 trillion won (US$521.51 billion) in June.
Foreign investors’ holdings of Korean stocks reached nearly 600 trillion won (US$521.51 billion) in June.

 

Foreign investors bought South Korean stocks for seven straight months. They boosted their holdings of local stocks by more than 1.7 trillion won (US$1.48 billion) in June to nearly 600 trillion won (US$521.51 billion). The KOSPI index increased as much as 20.57 percent over the period.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), foreign purchase of local listed stocks reached 1.76 trillion won (US$1.53 billion) last month. Foreigners were net buyers for seven months from December last year. For the first six months of this year, offshore investors bought a net 10.89 trillion won (US$9.47 billion) worth of shares issued by South Korean businesses.

By country, U.S. investors were the biggest buyers of local stocks last month, purchasing a net 1.8 trillion won (US$1.56 billion) worth of shares. It was followed by French and Irish investors who bought shares worth 700 billion won (US$608.43 million) and 300 billion won (US$260.76 million), respectively. On the other hand, the Cayman Islands and Saudi Arabia sold shares worth 400 billion won (US$347.67 million) each.

Foreign holdings of local stocks totaled 597.7 trillion won (US$519.51 billion) as of the end of June, reaching a record high again. The holdings accounted for 33.1 percent of the total market capitalization.

U.S. investors owned 250.2 trillion won (US$217.47 billion) worth of local shares, accounting for 41.9 percent of the total. It was followed by European investors with 171.6 trillion won (US$149.15 billion), or 28.7 percent, Asian investors with 73 trillion won (US$63.45 billion), or 12.2 percent, and Middle Eastern investors with 25.8 trillion won (US$22.43 billion), or 4.3 percent.

Foreign investors also purchased a net 1.55 trillion won (US$1.35 billion) worth of local bonds last month. At the end of June, foreign investors' holdings of local bonds stood at 103.8 trillion won (US$90.22 billion).

 

 

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