As geopolitical tensions in the Middle East intensified, foreign investors posted a record net sell-off in Korea's stock market last month.
According to the Foreign Investors' Securities Investment Trends for March 2026 released by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 16th, foreigners recorded a net sell-off of 43.505 trillion won in domestic listed shares last month.
By market, they net sold 43.888 trillion won on the main bourse, while net buying 384 billion won on the KOSDAQ market. The total net sell-off more than doubled from the previous month (19.558 trillion won).
As a result, as of the end of March, foreigners' holdings of domestic listed shares stood at 1,576.2 trillion won, down 449.4 trillion won from a month earlier. Their share of total market capitalization also fell to 30.7%.
By region, only the Middle East showed net buying, at 200 billion won, while most others saw net selling, including Europe (26.4 trillion won), the Americas (9.8 trillion won), and Asia (5.6 trillion won). By country, Qatar (500 billion won) and the Cayman Islands (300 billion won) posted net buying, while the United Kingdom (16.3 trillion won) and the United States (9.5 trillion won) saw large net sell-offs.
Meanwhile, in the bond market, foreign funds shifted to net withdrawals for the first time in five months. Foreign investors net bought 5.442 trillion won of listed bonds last month, but with 16.359 trillion won maturing and repaid, they net withdrew a total of 10.916 trillion won.
By region, only the Americas saw net investment of 900 billion won, while funds flowed out of Asia (7 trillion won) and Europe (3.4 trillion won). By bond type, net withdrawals were recorded in both Government Bonds (6.8 trillion won) and monetary stabilization bonds (2.2 trillion won).
As of the end of March, foreigners held 323.799 trillion won in listed bonds, accounting for 11.6% of the total.