Foreign Investors Offload Record South Korean Stocks in May
Quick Look
- Foreign investors offloaded a record 47 trillion won (US$30.4 billion) in South Korean stocks in May, driven by Middle East unrest and profit-taking, surpassing March's previous record.
- Concurrently, they bought a net 11.72 trillion won in local bonds.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Foreign investors had previously sold a net 43.51 trillion won in March and a total of 11.08 trillion won in the entire previous year.
SEOUL, June 26 (Yonhap) -- Foreign investors offloaded a record amount of South Korean stocks in May amid the unrest in the Middle East and profit-taking, data showed on Friday.
Offshore investors offloaded a net 47 trillion won (US$30.4 billion) worth of local stocks last month, easily surpassing the previous record monthly net selling of 43.51 trillion won in March, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
In the first five months of the year, they sold a net 114.22 trillion won, far higher than last year's sell-offs worth 11.08 trillion won in total, the data showed.
Following their net selling in May, offshore investors owned 2,852.3 trillion won worth of local stocks, or 35.3 percent of total market capitalization, which marks the highest-ever.
By country, investors from the United States were the top sellers in May, offloading a net 28.86 trillion won worth of shares, followed by those from Canada with a net sell-off of 4.2 trillion won, the latest findings showed.
In the local bond market, foreign investors bought a net 11.72 trillion won worth of local bonds last month.
Their holdings of local bonds stood at 333.6 trillion won as of end-May, accounting for 11.7 percent of listed bonds here, the latest findings showed.
Open Questions
- What specific factors drove profit-taking?
- How will this trend impact the South Korean economy long-term?
