Foreigners Sold 4.8 Trillion KRW of Domestic Stocks Last Month... 'Selling' for Three Consecutive Months

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] It has been revealed that foreigners net sold nearly 5 trillion won worth of domestic listed stocks last month. Since the beginning of this year, concerns have spread that the U.S. tightening clock will be accelerated more than expected, leading to foreigners' 'Sell Korea' trend continuing for three consecutive months, causing the foreigners' market capitalization ratio to fall to the 27% range.

According to the March Foreign Securities Investment Trends announced by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 11th, foreigners net sold 4.866 trillion won of domestic listed stocks and net invested 279 billion won in listed bonds, resulting in a total net withdrawal of 4.587 trillion won. Stocks were net sold for three consecutive months, while bonds maintained a net investment trend since January last year.

As of the end of last month, foreigners held 725.2 trillion won in listed stocks, and their market capitalization ratio fell to 27.1%.

Foreigners particularly net sold stocks worth 4.993 trillion won in the KOSPI market. On the other hand, they recorded a net purchase of 127 billion won in the KOSDAQ market. The net selling scale from the European region reached 4 trillion won, and the Americas region also net sold about 100 billion won. The UK and Canada net sold 1.7 trillion won and 1.3 trillion won respectively. The U.S. recorded a net purchase of about 1.2 trillion won.

In terms of holdings, the U.S. accounted for 295.4 trillion won, representing 40.7% of the total foreign holdings, followed by Europe (218.6 trillion won, 30.1%), Asia (102.5 trillion won, 14.1%), and the Middle East (24.9 trillion won).

Last month, foreigners net purchased 6.339 trillion won in listed bonds and redeemed 6.06 trillion won at maturity, resulting in a total net investment of 279 billion won. Foreigners' holdings of listed bonds amounted to 222.5 trillion won, accounting for 9.7% of the total listed balance. The foreigners' end-of-month holdings have been breaking record highs every month since January last year.

By country, the Middle East and the Americas net invested 200 billion won and 100 billion won respectively, while Europe and Asia net withdrew 500 billion won and 50 billion won respectively. In terms of holdings, Asia held 102 trillion won, accounting for 45.8% of the total foreign holdings. Europe held 68.4 trillion won (30.7%), and the Americas held 20.6 trillion won.