Foreigners remain net sellers of S. Korean assets for 6th month in July: BOK

Seoul, Aug. 13 (Yonhap) -- Foreign investors continued their trend of net selling South Korean securities for the sixth consecutive month in July, according to figures released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Thursday. The offshore investors sold a total of US$21.65 billion worth of local stocks and bonds last month, following a similar sell-off of US$30.72 billion in June, the BOK data revealed.

Such a pattern of net selling has persisted since February. In July, foreign investors sold a net US$20.7 billion worth of stocks and a net US$960 million worth of bonds. The BOK attributed the recent reduction in the sell-off to a stock market correction that discouraged foreigners from rebalancing their portfolios. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) experienced a decline of over 20 percent in July, primarily due to substantial losses in tech shares.

The BOK also noted that the reduction in foreign portfolio rebalancing contributed to the strengthening of the Korean won against the U.S. dollar during the period. By the end of July, the won was trading at 1,424 won per dollar, a significant decrease from 1,549.4 won a month earlier.