SEOUL, June 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's institutional investment in foreign securities turned downward in the first quarter due to geopolitical risks in the Middle East and rising U.S. Treasury yields, central bank data showed Monday.
Outstanding investment in foreign securities, including foreign stocks and bonds owned by local financial institutions, totaled 503.33 billion U.S. dollars at the end of March, down 0.8 percent from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marked the first downturn since the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by valuation losses on both foreign stocks and bonds from the Middle East conflict and surging U.S. bond yields.
The institutional holdings of foreign stocks decreased 4.01 billion dollars from three months earlier to 288.52 billion dollars at the end of March, while the ownership of foreign bonds shrank 0.45 billion dollars to 182.20 billion dollars.
The holdings of Korean Paper, which refers to the foreign currency-denominated bonds issued overseas by domestic institutions and companies, added 0.20 billion dollars to 32.61 billion dollars in the January-March quarter.
Foreign securities possessed by asset managers, insurers and securities firms declined in the cited quarter, but those by foreign exchange banks gained ground. ■