Foreigners sell South Korean stocks in 6 months

Foreign investors sold South Korean stocks for the first time in six months amid political turmoil surrounding President Park Geun-hye, financial watchdog data showed on Monday.

Foreigners dumped 1.19 trillion won (1.02 billion U.S. dollars) in listed stocks in November, the first monthly sale by offshore investors since May, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

European, Asian and Middle East investors sold hundreds of billions of won in local shares, while U.S. and Canadian investors slightly purchased shares.

The massive foreign sales came as concerns deepened among foreigners over the political turmoil involving President Park and her longtime confidante that led to the impeachment last week of Park in the National Assembly.

Protest rallies continued for seven straight Saturdays since the scandal erupted in October. President Park was identified as a criminal accomplice to Choi Soon-sil, Park's decades-long friend who was charged with using her sway with Park to extort donations from conglomerates and accessing state secrets.

As Park was suspended from office, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn became acting president to temporarily run the country until the constitutional court deliberates on it up to 180 days. If the impeachment is legalized, a presidential election should be held in two months.

Foreign ownership of local stocks reached 469.9 trillion won as of end-November, up 0.5 trillion won from the previous month on higher stock prices. It accounted for 31.4 percent of total market capitalization.

Meanwhile, foreign investment in local listed bonds posted a net outflow of 1.79 trillion won in November, seeing foreign capital continue to flow out of the local bond market for four months in a row.

The net foreign investment refers to foreign net buying minus matured debts.

Foreign holdings of local bonds amounted to 89.8 trillion won at the end of November, down 1.8 trillion won from the previous month. Foreign ownership took up 5.6 percent of the total listed bonds.

source: Xinhua