SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's corporate bond sales fell in single digits in July due to weaker demand from financial companies, financial watchdog data showed Wednesday.
The issuance of corporate bonds sank 6.3 percent from a month earlier to 24.85 trillion won (17.9 billion U.S. dollars) in July, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
Bonds sold by industrial companies rose 9.3 percent to 2.78 trillion won, but financial firms' bond sales inched down 0.8 percent to 21.86 trillion won.
The asset-backed securities (ABS) issuance tumbled 89.0 percent in the cited month.
Outstanding corporate bonds totaled 766.95 trillion won at the end of July, up 1.3 percent from a month earlier.
Equity financing, including initial public offerings and rights issuance, amounted to 1.49 trillion won in July, up 373.0 percent compared to the previous month. ■