Securities Settlement in Foreign Currencies Reaches New High in H1

The Korea Securities Depository announced on July 19 that South Korean investors’ securities settlement in foreign currencies totaled US$261.2 billion in the first half of this year, up 44.3 percent compared to the second half of last year, and the H1 figure is equivalent to 80.8 percent of the annual settlement for 2020.

In the first half of this year, their securities holdings in foreign currencies were US$88.92 billion and both the holdings and the settlement reached new highs.

Specifically, stock settlement in foreign currencies increased 63 percent to US$207.74 billion and bond settlement in foreign currencies fell 0.1 percent to US$53.46 billion.

Investment in the United States accounted for 75.8 percent of the total securities settlement, followed by those in the euro market, Hong Kong, China and Japan. When it comes to stocks, investment in the United States accounted for 93.4 percent of the total settlement and increased 67.5 percent compared to the second half of 2020. Those in Hong Kong, China, Japan and Germany were US$8.31 billion, US$1.93 billion, US$1.52 billion and US$640 million, respectively.

The top three in their stock settlement in foreign currencies are Tesla (US$17.77 billion), GameStop (US$6.24 billion) and Apple (US$5.85 billion). Amazon and Nvidia fell from third and fourth to ninth and tenth, respectively.

Their stock holdings in foreign currencies via the Korea Securities Depository increased 39.9 percent to US$65.88 billion in the first half of this year. The top five are Tesla (US$9.23 billion), Apple (US$3.95 billion), Amazon (US$1.88 billion), Nvidia (US$1.5 billion) and Alphabet A (US$1.39 billion).