Foreign investors' buying of South Korean stocks and bonds more than doubled last month on expectations for the launch of the new South Korean government, central bank data showed Tuesday.
Foreigners purchased 5.27 billion U.S. dollars of local securities in May, up from 2.2 billion dollars tallied in April, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The inauguration on May 10 of the Moon Jae-in government defused a political uncertainty, which was caused by the impeachment of Moon's predecessor Park Geun-hye over corruption allegations.
Foreign purchase of local stocks increased from 0.99 billion dollars in April to 3.36 billion dollars in May, marking the biggest in 10 months.
The benchmark Kospi index surpassed 2,300 points for the first time in history. Offshore investors bought 1.91 billion dollars of local bonds in May, up from 1.21 billion dollars in the previous month.
Volatility in the won/dollar exchange rate averaged 4.6 won per dollar on a daily basis in May, down 0.3 won from the prior month.
The won/dollar exchange rate closed at 1,119.5 won per dollar as of end-May, down 18.4 won from a month ago.
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