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Photo = Korea Exchange |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Foreign investors continued to offload South Korean stocks for the eighth consecutive month in March, according to the Financial Supervisory Service’s "Foreign Securities Investment Trends – March 2025" report released on Friday.
Last month, foreigners recorded a net sale of ₩1.637 trillion in listed stocks. They sold ₩1.124 trillion on the KOSPI and ₩513 billion on the KOSDAQ.
By region, investors from Asia led the sell-off with ₩2.4 trillion in net sales, followed by ₩200 billion from the Middle East. In contrast, investors from the Americas net purchased ₩800 billion worth of shares.
Singapore was the largest net seller by country, dumping ₩2.601 trillion in Korean stocks. Norway and the Netherlands followed with ₩626 billion and ₩219 billion, respectively. On the buying side, the UK led with ₩652 billion in net purchases, followed by the U.S. (₩574 billion) and the Cayman Islands (₩505 billion).
As of the end of March, foreign investors held ₩703.94 trillion in Korean listed stocks, accounting for 27.3% of total market capitalization. The U.S. held the largest portion at ₩282.7 trillion (40.2% of total foreign holdings), followed by Europe with ₩218.8 trillion (31.1%), and Asia with ₩102.5 trillion (14.6%).
Bond Market Sees Continued Foreign Inflows
In contrast to the stock market, foreign investors continued to increase their bond investments for the second consecutive month. In March, they net purchased ₩14.309 trillion in listed bonds. After deducting ₩8.435 trillion in matured redemptions, the net investment stood at ₩5.874 trillion.
By region, Asia led the bond inflows with ₩2.9 trillion, followed by the Middle East (₩800 billion) and the Americas (₩400 billion).
Foreign holdings of Korean bonds totaled ₩278.5 trillion as of the end of March. Of this, government bonds made up the majority with ₩252.6 trillion (90.7%), while special bonds accounted for ₩25.9 trillion (9.3%).
By maturity, foreign investors favored bonds with over five years remaining (₩6 trillion) and 1–5 year bonds (₩800 billion) for net investment. However, they withdrew ₩900 billion from bonds with less than one year to maturity. At the end of March, foreigners held ₩65.4 trillion (23.5%) in bonds with less than one year maturity, ₩87.4 trillion (31.4%) in 1–5 year bonds, and ₩125.8 trillion (45.1%) in long-term bonds.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
