SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Foreign holdings of South Korean listed stocks hit a record high last month, topping 500 trillion won (440 billion U.S. dollars) for the first time, financial watchdog data showed on Monday.
Foreign investors owned 501.96 trillion won worth of local listed stocks as of the end of January, surpassing the 500 trillion-won level for the first time, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
It accounted for 32.0 percent of the total market capitalization, up from 28.1 percent a year earlier. Foreign capital began to flow into the domestic stock market thanks to global economic recovery.
Samsung Electronics, which takes up around a quarter of the market capitalization on the main bourse, recorded positive earnings due to brisk semiconductor sales that offset negative effect from the discontinuation of Galaxy Note 7 phones.
From June last year to January this year, foreigners were net buyers in the local stock market except November. In July alone, they bought more than 4 trillion won in domestic stocks.
Meanwhile, offshore investors made net investment worth 1.67 trillion won in January in the local bond market. The net investment means a net bond purchase minus maturing debts.
Foreign ownership of local bonds reached 90.93 trillion won as of end-January, taking up 5.7 percent of combined listed bonds.
