SEOUL, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Foreign investors sold South Korean stocks for a sixth consecutive month due mainly to mechanical portfolio rebalancing following the local stock market's earlier surge to historic highs, financial watchdog data showed Friday.
Offshore investors dumped a net 49.34 trillion won (about 34.3 billion U.S. dollars) worth of domestic listed stocks in June, continuing to sell off since January, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
Foreigners remained net sellers in the main bourse KOSPI, but they were net buyers in the smaller KOSDAQ market.
The foreign sell-off in the KOSPI, triggered by the mechanical portfolio rebalancing, was further fueled by peak-out concerns over global artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure investments that hit tech heavyweights such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
Boosted by a booming semiconductor industry and rapid earnings growth, the KOSPI surged to historic highs earlier this year.
Foreign holdings of local stocks totaled 2,908.6 trillion won at the end of June, taking up 36.4 percent of the total market capitalization.
Overseas investors snapped up a net 13.9 trillion won worth of local listed bonds last month.
With the maturing debt worth 9.42 trillion won, the foreign net investment in the domestic bond market reached 4.48 trillion won.
The foreign ownership of domestic listed bonds came to 334.8 trillion won at the end of June, accounting for 11.8 percent of the total listed bonds. ■