Offshore investors purchased a net 244 billion won (207 million U.S. dollars) worth of domestic listed stocks in June, after dumping stocks worth 2.9 trillion won (2.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
The turnaround in foreign stock buying was attributable to the moderated concern about global trade friction.
Asian and U.S. investors were net buyers in the local stock market in June, but investors from Europe and the Middle East were net sellers.
Foreign holdings of local shares reached 559.8 trillion won (474.8 billion U.S. dollars) as of end-June, accounting for 32.7 percent of the total market capitalization.
Foreigners made a net investment worth 5.8 trillion won (4.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the domestic bond market last month, remaining a net investor since March.
The net investment means foreign net buying minus maturing debts. The continued net investment came as the central bank maintained an accommodative monetary policy stance for a protracted period of time.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.75 percent since the bank hiked it by 25 basis points in November last year.
The target rate was raised to 1.50 percent from an all-time low of 1.25 percent in November 2017. Foreign ownership of local listed bonds stood at 124.5 trillion won (105.6 billion U.S. dollars) as of end-June, taking up 7 percent of the total listed bonds.
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