Foreign Shares
The number of foreign-owned shares in the Seoul bourse has inched up throughout November this year, mainly due to their record-long buying rally from August to October.
According to data released by the Korea Exchange (KRX), foreign investors bought a net 4.66 trillion won (US$4.36 billion) in the cited period, holding 35.64 percent of stocks traded on the Korean stock market as of November 13, up 0.88 percentage points from the end of December last year.
The figure, however, is still quite low compared to an all-time high of 44.12 percent in April 2004.
By sector, foreigners’ shares in technology stocks reached 46.79 percent, up 0.89 percentage points from the end of 2012, with their shares in mobile carrier stocks rising 1.25 percentage points to reach 44.13 percent.
In contrast, foreigners’ stakes in food producers fell 1.45 percentage points to reach 23.29 percent over the cited period, and that of non-metal firms also shed 3.02 percentage points to 13.38 percent.
The company whose shares foreigners have purchased most among the listed firms is Halla Visteon Climate Control, accounting for an 88.93 percent stake of the Korean air-conditioner maker, followed by Hankuk Glass Industries with 80.6 percent.
Ssangyong Motor, the local unit of Indian vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra, had foreign holdings reaching 76.54 percent of its total shares.