Foreigners' Net Purchase of Domestic Stocks Continues for 7 Months... Net Investment in Bonds Also for 2 Months

Financial Supervisory Service Announces May Foreign Securities Investment Trends
1.53 Trillion KRW Net Purchase of Stocks... Mostly Large-Cap Stocks

Yeouido Financial Supervisory Service building in Seoul (right) and securities firms buildings. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

It was revealed that foreigners have been steadily purchasing domestically listed stocks, mainly large-cap stocks in the KOSPI market, for seven months until May. However, the monthly net purchase volume recorded the lowest level in the past seven months.

On the 9th, the Financial Supervisory Service announced that foreigners made a net purchase of 1.529 trillion KRW in listed stocks and a net investment of 1.476 trillion KRW in listed bonds in May, recording a total net investment of 3.005 trillion KRW.

Foreigners maintained a buying trend for seven consecutive months since last November by purchasing stocks worth 1.529 trillion KRW in May. However, the monthly net purchase amount was the smallest in the past seven months, decreasing by more than 100 billion KRW compared to April (262.6 billion KRW).

By market, buying pressure was concentrated on KOSPI stocks. Foreigners purchased stocks worth 1.367 trillion KRW in the KOSPI market, while only 161 billion KRW worth of stocks were bought in the KOSDAQ market.

By region, the Americas (2.4 trillion KRW) and Europe (1.2 trillion KRW) showed net buying, whereas Asia (△1.5 trillion KRW) and the Middle East (△200 billion KRW) showed net selling. As a result, foreigners’ holdings of listed stocks reached 791.3 trillion KRW, accounting for 29.1% of the total market capitalization.

Meanwhile, in the bond market, foreigners made net purchases worth 7.6 trillion KRW and net sales worth 3.9 trillion KRW. The amount of bonds maturing in May reached 2.2 trillion KRW.

By region, Asia (700 billion KRW), the Americas (500 billion KRW), and Europe (400 billion KRW) maintained a net investment stance. Consequently, foreigners’ holdings in the bond market reached 251 trillion KRW, accounting for 9.8% of the outstanding listed bonds.