Seoul: Foreign investors turned into net buyers of South Korean stocks in August, marking a shift after seven months of continuous selling. This change occurred amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions and increasing bond yields, as revealed by central bank data on Thursday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, offshore investors purchased a net total of US$0.4 billion in local stocks for the month of August. This comes in contrast to the significant net selling of $20.7 billion observed in July, as reported by the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The trend of foreign investors being net sellers of local stocks had persisted since January of this year. However, the BOK noted that the buying spree in August was driven by an improved market sentiment. This was largely supported by strong earnings from major tech firms in the United States, despite ongoing tensions in the Middle East and concerns surrounding excessive investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
In contrast to the stock market activity, foreign investors offloaded $4.53 billion in local bonds last month, following a sell-off of $0.96 billion in July. Meanwhile, the South Korean won appreciated against the dollar, trading at 1,368.6 won per dollar by the end of August, compared to 1,424.0 won a month earlier.
Source: Yonhap News Agency