Foreigners' stock sell-off continues for 3rd straight month in April

SEOUL, May 11 (Yonhap) -- Foreign investors became net sellers of South Korean stocks last month, extending their selling spree to a third straight month, data showed Monday.

Foreigners sold a net 5.39 trillion won (US$4.4 billion) worth of local stocks in April, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

American investors sold a net 1 trillion won of stocks last month, while Saudi investors net purchased 251 billion won worth of stocks, according to the FSS.

As of end-April, local stocks held by foreign investors came to 505 trillion won, accounting for 31.5 percent of South Korea's market capitalization.

By country, investors from the United States held 214.6 trillion won worth of local stocks at the end of last month, accounting for 42.5 percent of the total held by offshore investors, followed by those from Britain with 7.3 percent and Luxemburg with 6.4 percent.

Meanwhile, foreigners bought a net 9.32 trillion won worth of local bonds last month, extending their buying spree to a fourth straight month. Their bond holdings hit a record high of 140.5 trillion won, or 7.3 percent of the total, as of end-April, the data showed.

entropy@yna.co.kr
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