KSD Reports Record Quarterly Foreign Securities Settlement Amount of KRW 103.24 Trillion in Q3

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] In the third quarter of this year, the settlement amount of foreign currency securities by domestic investors reached a record high on a quarterly basis.

On the 22nd, the Korea Securities Depository announced that the settlement amount of foreign currency securities by domestic investors in the third quarter of 2020 reached $91.06 billion, approximately KRW 103.2438 trillion, setting a new quarterly record. The second and third highest amounts in history were also recorded this year, with the second quarter at $75.86 billion and the first quarter at $66.58 billion.

The settlement amount for foreign currency stocks was $62.02 billion, a 42.7% increase compared to the previous quarter ($43.46 billion), while the settlement amount for foreign currency bonds was $29.04 billion, a 10.3% decrease compared to the previous quarter ($32.4 billion).

Among all markets, the market with the highest proportion of foreign currency securities settlement amount was the US market (66.0%), and the top five markets by settlement amount (US, Euro market, Hong Kong, China, Japan) accounted for 99.6% of the total.

The top foreign currency stock by settlement amount was Tesla (US), with a settlement amount of $10.5 billion, a significant increase of 315.0% compared to the previous quarter ($2.53 billion).

The other top settlement stocks (excluding ETFs) were all major US tech companies: Apple ($4.98 billion), Amazon ($2.78 billion), Nvidia ($2.15 billion), and Microsoft ($1.69 billion).

Additionally, the management amount of foreign currency securities in the third quarter was $60.22 billion, a 20.8% increase compared to the end of the second quarter of 2020 ($49.85 billion).

The management amount of foreign currency stocks was $33.38 billion, a 46.7% increase compared to the end of the previous quarter ($22.75 billion), while the management amount of foreign currency bonds was $26.84 billion, a 0.9% decrease compared to the end of the previous quarter ($27.1 billion).

Among all markets, the market with the highest proportion of foreign currency securities management amount was the Euro market (42.6%), followed by the US market (42.5%), and the top five markets by management amount (Euro market, US, China, Hong Kong, Japan) accounted for 97.5% of the total market management amount.

The top foreign currency stock management amounts were, as with the settlement amounts, all major US tech companies such as Tesla (US), Apple (US), and Amazon (US).