SEOUL, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Foreign investors bought South Korean stocks for the fifth consecutive month in March due to the government's ban on stock short-selling, financial watchdog data showed Monday.
Foreigners acquired a net 5.1 trillion won (3.8 billion U.S. dollars) worth of domestic listed stocks in March, remaining net buyers since November 2023, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
Offshore investors were net buyers in both the benchmark KOSPI and the smaller KOSDAQ market.
The consecutive foreign purchase came after the financial authorities prohibited the short-selling on all listed stocks in November 2023.
Short-selling refers to the sale of stocks by borrowing them in anticipation of price fall, before repaying the borrowed shares when the price goes down. It has been seen as one of the main culprits for the stock market rout.
Foreign holdings of local listed stocks totaled 820.1 trillion won (605.4 billion dollars) at the end of March, taking up 29.0 percent of the total market capitalization.
Overseas investors bought a net 2.36 trillion won (1.7 billion dollars) worth of domestic listed bonds in March.
Given the maturing debts worth 8.2 trillion won (6.0 billion dollars), the foreign net disinvestment in the local bond market stood at 5.84 trillion won (4.3 billion dollars) last month.
Foreign ownership of domestic bonds amounted to 244.3 trillion won (180.3 billion dollars) at the end of March, accounting for 9.6 percent of the total listed bonds. ■
