Foreign ownership of S. Korean stocks at yearly low: data

Foreign ownership of South Korean shares fell to the lowest level of this year following Donald Trump's presidential reelection, data showed Sunday.

Foreign holdings of Korean stocks on the main bourse Kospi accounted for 32.3 percent, or 637.48 trillion won ($456 billion), of the market capitalization worth 1,973.51 trillion won as of Friday, according to the data compiled by the Korea Exchange.

Foreign investors held 32.7 percent of Kospi-listed stocks early this year, but the ratio continued to decline to 34 percent in August and 33 percent in September after rebounding to 36 percent in July, data showed.

Offshore investors have been in heavy selling mode this month after Trump won the US presidential election, as his policies may hit hard chipmakers, automakers, EV battery makers, and others.

Also, they heavily offloaded local shares over the weakening Korean won versus the US dollar, as the local currency hovered around a two-year low against the greenback.

This month alone, foreigners sold a net 1.87 trillion won worth of stocks on the main bourse.

Foreign sell-offs of market heavyweights dragged down the Korean stock market, with the Kospi dipping 5.4 percent this month alone.

Foreigners sold a whopping 2.74 trillion won worth of top cap Samsung Electronics this month, with their holdings of the world's largest memory chip maker falling to 51.72 percent, the lowest level in 19 months since April 25 last year, when their ratio was at 51.68 percent.

Samsung Electronics plunged to an over four-year low of 49,900 won on Thursday on worries over a possible scrapping of chip incentives by US President-elect Trump.

On Friday, the tech behemoth announced a 10-trillion won share buyback scheme to bolster its share price.

Foreign investors sold 338 billion won worth of Samsung SDI this month, followed by Hyundai Motor with 246 billion won and Hana Financial with 73 billion won. (Yonhap)