SEOUL, December 03 (AJP) - Foreign investors offloaded a net 14.2 trillion won ($9.7 billion) worth of South Korean equities in November, the largest monthly divestment since records began in the 2000s, the International Finance Center (IFC) said in a report on Wednesday.
The outflow surpassed the previous highs of 12.9 trillion won logged in March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and 10.1 trillion won in April this year amid U.S. tariff-related tensions.
While foreign investors exited equities, they sharply increased their exposure to South Korean bonds. Net inflows reached 17.2 trillion won in November, pushing foreign bond holdings from 312.3 trillion won at the end of October to a record 329.5 trillion won a month later.
Shin Sul-wee, senior researcher at the IFC, said the large outward flow from stocks reflected rising turnover amid a 57.3 percent jump in the Korean market’s capitalization this year.
“The absolute scale of stock sales in November was significant,” Shin said. “But this appears to be portfolio rebalancing in response to higher stock prices and concerns over a potential AI bubble, rather than a sign of deteriorating fundamentals for Korean equities.”
* This article, published by Economic Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
