Foreigners Net Sell 5.2 Trillion KRW in Domestic Stocks in April... Selling for Four Consecutive Months

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Last month, foreigners net sold more than 5 trillion won worth of domestically listed stocks. Their market capitalization share stood at the 26% level.

According to the foreign securities investment trends for April announced by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 16th, foreigners net sold 5.294 trillion won of listed stocks and net invested 36 billion won in listed bonds last month, resulting in a total net withdrawal of 5.258 trillion won. Stocks were net sold for the fourth consecutive month, while bonds recorded net investment for the 16th consecutive month.

As of the end of last month, foreigners held 696.2 trillion won in listed stocks, accounting for 26.7% of the market capitalization. Foreigners net sold stocks worth 5.162 trillion won in the KOSPI market and 127 billion won in the KOSDAQ market. The net selling scale from the European region was 2.9 trillion won, while Asia and the Americas also net sold 1.6 trillion won and 1.4 trillion won respectively. The Middle East region net bought about 100 billion won.

In terms of holdings, the United States accounted for 284.6 trillion won, representing 40.9% of the total foreign holdings. This was followed by Europe (209.6 trillion won, 30.1%), Asia (97.1 trillion won, 13.9%), and the Middle East (23.8 trillion won, 3.4%).

Last month, foreigners net purchased 4.006 trillion won in listed bonds and redeemed 3.97 trillion won at maturity, resulting in a total net investment of 36 billion won. Foreigners’ holdings of listed bonds amounted to 223.2 trillion won, accounting for 9.6% of the total listed balance. The month-end holdings of foreigners have continuously set record highs since January last year.

By region, Europe net invested 1.3 trillion won, the Americas 900 billion won, while Asia and the Middle East net withdrew 2.1 trillion won and 500 billion won respectively. In terms of holdings, Asia accounted for 100.3 trillion won, representing 44.9% of the total. Europe followed with holdings of 69.9 trillion won (31.3%).