Thanks to the robust performance of the local stock market, foreign investors purchased more Korean equities in July for the third consecutive month, according to statistics released Thursday. Following a net purchase of 3.07 trillion won the month before, according to statistics from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), overseas investors purchased a net 3.41 trillion won (US$2.46 billion) worth of local equities last month, according to Yonhap news agency.
Up until April, foreigners had been net sellers of Korean equities for nine months in a row; but, in May, they switched to net purchasing. After purchasing local equities in July, offshore investors held 921.6 trillion won, or 27.7 percent of the market capitalization.
According to the statistics, American investors were the largest buyers by nation, net acquiring 2.48 trillion won worth of shares, followed by Irish investors with 765 billion won. Last month, foreign investors bought a net 3 trillion won worth of bonds in the local bond market, continuing a six-month trend of net purchasing.
According to the statistics, as of the end of July, their local bond holdings were 307.7 trillion won, or 11.4% of all listed bonds in this country. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or KOSPI, increased by almost 6% in July, reaching an annual high of 3,254.47 on July 30.
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