Seoul Bourse
Foreign investors continued to sell South Korean stocks and bonds worth 4.8 trillion won (US$4.25 billion) for last two months in a row.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on October 16, foreigners net sold 1.1 trillion won (US$976.09 million) worth of listed stocks and 3.73 trillion won (US$3.31 billion) worth of listed bonds last month, showing a net flow of 4.83 trillion won (US$4.28 billion) in total. They went on a selling spree in both stocks and bonds for two consecutive months from August.
Foreign investors held 613.3 trillion won (US$543.22 billion) of listed stocks as the end of last month, accounting for 33.7 percent of the total market cap. The also owned 100.5 trillion won (US$89.02 billion) worth of listed bonds, taking up 6.1 percent of the total. In short, foreign ownership of South Korean listed stocks reached 713.8 trillion won (US$632.24 billion).
An official from the FSS said, “Foreigners showed a selling trend last month as well but the total amount slightly decreased. However, the net sale of bonds by them increased due to a large-scale redemption at maturity.”
By region, the United States net bought 300 billion won (US$265.72 million) worth of listed stocks, while Asia, Middle East and Europe net sold 500 billion won (US$442.87 million), 300 billion won (US$265.72 million) and 13 billion won (US$11.51 million), respectively. By country, Singapore showed the highest net sale of 500 billion won (US$442.87 million), followed by the United Kingdom with 400 billion won (US$354.3 million) and the Cayman Islands with 300 billion won (US$265.72 million), while the U.S. and France showed the highest net purchase of 300 billion won (US$265.72 million).
U.S. investors held the largest foreign ownership of domestic stocks with 255.5 trillion won (US$226.31 billion), taking up 41.7 percent of the total, followed by European investors with 175.2 trillion won (US$155.18 billion), or 28.6 percent, Asian investors with 73.7 trillion won (US$65.28 billion), or 12 percent, and Middle Eastern investors with 25.4 trillion won (US$22.5 billion), or 4.1 percent.
For bonds, the Middle East net invested 600 billion won (US$531.44 million), while Europe and the Americas net sold 2.1 trillion won (US$1.86 billion) and 900 billion won (US$797.17 million), respectively. Asian investors held the largest foreign ownership of domestic bonds with 40.9 trillion won (US$36.23 billion), accounting for 40.7 percent of the total, followed by European investors with 28.7 billion), or 32.2 percent, and the Americas with 11.3 trillion won (US$10.01 billion), or 11.3 percent.