SEOUL, May 30 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's institutional investment in foreign securities rose in the first quarter owing to higher demand for both foreign stocks and bonds, central bank data showed Friday.
Outstanding investment in foreign securities, including foreign stocks and bonds owned by local financial institutions, stood at 430.39 billion U.S. dollars at the end of March, up 10.05 billion dollars, or 2.4 percent, from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.
It rebounded after sliding 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter of last year as domestic investors engaged in dip buying after the U.S. stock market rout.
The institutional holdings of foreign stocks advanced 6.37 billion dollars from three months earlier to 232.58 billion dollars at the end of March, while the ownership of foreign bonds grew 2.85 billion dollars to 166.74 billion dollars.
The holdings of Korean Paper, which refers to the foreign currency-denominated bonds issued overseas by domestic institutions and companies, gained 0.84 billion dollars to 31.07 billion dollars in the cited quarter.
Foreign securities possessed by asset managers, insurers and securities firms swelled, but foreign exchange banks-owned securities reduced during the January-March quarter. ■
