Foreign investors dumped nearly 20 trillion in South Korean stocks last month

By Shin Dong-kun Posted : March 27, 2026, 09:01 Updated : March 27, 2026, 09:06
 
An electronic board displays the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and other indexes at KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on March 26, 2026. Yonhap
SEOUL, March 27 (AJP) - Foreign investors offloaded nearly 20 trillion Korean won (US$12.98 billion) worth of South Korean shares last month, extending their selling streak to a second consecutive month, according to data released by the Financial Supervisory Service on Friday.

Foreign investors net sold 19.56 trillion won worth of shares - including 19.31 trillion won on the benchmark KOSPI and 239 billion won on the junior KOSDAQ - resulting in a net outflow of 12.13 trillion won in February.

They instead shifted toward bonds, snapping up 7.43 trillion won worth for a fourth consecutive month.

As of the end of February, foreign investors held 2,026 trillion won worth of listed stocks here, accounting for about 32.6 percent of the market.

By country, the U.S. led with 838.19 trillion or 41.4 percent of total foreign holdings, followed by Europe at 31.8 percent, Asia at 13.8 percent and the Middle East at 1.8 percent.

Foreign holdings of local bonds, meanwhile, continued to grow, rising 6.8 trillion won from the previous month to 337.3 trillion won, accounting for 12 percent of the total.

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