Foreign investors dumped more than 31 trillion won of domestically listed stocks last month, extending "sell Korea" for a seventh straight month. By contrast, they continued net investment in listed bonds, led by Government Bonds, marking a fourth consecutive month of net buying.
According to the Foreign Investors' Securities Investment Trends for July released by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 21st, foreign investors posted a net selloff of 31.664 trillion won in listed stocks last month and a net investment of 2.388 trillion won in listed bonds, resulting in a net outflow of 29.276 trillion won.
By market, they were net sellers of 30.776 trillion won on the main bourse and 889 billion won on KOSDAQ.
Foreign investors have maintained a net selling stance in stocks for seven consecutive months this year. As of the end of July, foreign holdings of listed stocks stood at 2,255.5 trillion won, down 653.1 trillion won from the previous month, accounting for 35.8% of total market capitalization.
By region, funds from the Americas showed net buying, including the United States (3.5 trillion won) and Australia (1.4 trillion won), while European funds, led by the United Kingdom (-20.2 trillion won), led the overall outflow with net sales totaling 25.7 trillion won. Asian funds, including Singapore (-3.8 trillion won), also recorded net sales of 5.2 trillion won.
By country, the United States held 977.8 trillion won, the largest share at 43.4% of total foreign holdings, followed by Europe at 675.9 trillion won (30.0%), Asia at 310.1 trillion won (13.7%), and the Middle East at 45.1 trillion won (2.0%).
In the bond market, foreign inflows continued. In July, foreigners bought a net 4.768 trillion won of listed bonds and received 2.38 trillion won in maturities, for a net investment of 2.388 trillion won. It was the fourth straight month of net investment since April. As of the end of July, foreigners' outstanding holdings of listed bonds rose 1.3 trillion won from the previous month to 336.1 trillion won (11.7% of listed outstanding).
By type, there was a net investment of 2.599 trillion won in Government Bonds, while monetary stabilization bonds (-720 billion won) and special bonds (-210 billion won) saw net outflows. As of the end of July, outstanding holdings were 319.5 trillion won (95.0%) for Government Bonds and 16.5 trillion won (4.9%) for special bonds.
By remaining maturity, net investment was concentrated in medium- and long-term bonds, including bonds with a remaining maturity of at least 1 year and less than 5 years (5.181 trillion won) and bonds of 5 years or longer (3.149 trillion won). In contrast, there was a net outflow of 5.942 trillion won from short-term bonds of less than 1 year.