Foreigners extend stock sell-off to 5th straight month in June

Foreign investors extended their selling spree of South Korean stocks to a fifth straight month in June, data showed Monday.

Foreigners sold a net 420 billion won ($348.6 million) worth of local stocks last month, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

American investors sold a net 2.5 trillion won worth of stocks last month, while British investors net purchased 1.7 trillion won worth of stocks, according to the FSS.

As of end-June, local stocks held by foreign investors came to 541.6 trillion won, accounting for 30.9 percent of South Korea's market capitalization.

By country, investors from the United States held 226.9 trillion won worth of local stocks at the end of last month, accounting for 41.9 percent of the total held by offshore investors, followed by those from Britain with 7.5 percent and Luxembourg with 6.4 percent.

Meanwhile, foreigners bought a net 10.08 trillion won worth of local bonds last month, extending their buying spree to a sixth straight month. Their bond holdings hit a record high of 146.6 trillion won, or 7.4 percent of the total, as of end-June, the data showed. (Yonhap)