Foreigners snap 7-month sell-offs of Korean stocks in Aug.

Foreign investors concluded their seven-month streak of selling Korean stocks in August, driven by escalating geopolitical uncertainties and concerns over the profitability of artificial intelligence (AI) investments. According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), offshore investors made a net purchase of 340 billion won worth of local stocks last month, marking the end of a seven-month selling spree.

Following their net acquisitions in August, foreign investors owned 2,281 trillion won worth of local stocks, representing 34.8 percent of the total market capitalization. The United States emerged as the leading foreign purchaser in August, buying a net 13.4 trillion won in local stocks, followed by Ireland with 3.2 trillion won of purchases.

Meanwhile, foreign investors sold a net 3.94 trillion won worth of local bonds in the domestic bond market, holding 330 trillion won in Korean bonds, accounting for 11.4 percent of listed bonds as of the end of August.