Foreign Investors Sold Stocks and Bought Bonds… Net Investment of 2.8 Trillion Won in February

# Foreign Investors Divest $2.83 Billion in South Korean Equities, Purchase $5.67 Billion in Bonds Foreign investors sold off South Korean equities amounting to 2.83 trillion won and acquired listed bonds worth 5.668 trillion won last month, resulting in a net investment of 2.838 trillion won. While equities consistently saw net selling for seven consecutive months, bonds experienced a net buying shift after three months, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on the 14th, detailing the 'February Foreign Securities Investment Trends'. Unlike the Korea Exchange, which compiles data based on transaction records, the FSS aggregates foreign securities investment trends on a settlement basis. Foreign investors net sold 2.83 trillion won in listed stocks last month, bringing their holdings to 704.1 trillion won as of the end of February. This represents 26.5% of the total market capitalization. In the domestic securities market, foreigners recorded net selling of 2.86 trillion won, whereas in the KOSDAQ market, they net bought 300 billion won. By region, significant net selling occurred from the Americas (-1.3 trillion won), Europe (-700 billion won), and the Middle East (-500 billion won). However, on a country basis, the U.K. (1.5 trillion won) and China (600 billion won) showed net buying, while Luxembourg (-1.3 trillion won) and the U.S. (-700 billion won) showed net selling. As of the end of February, the largest holdings by foreign investors were from the U.S., amounting to 285.6 trillion won (40.6% of total foreign holdings), followed by Europe at 214.2 trillion won (30.4%), Asia at 105.1 trillion won (14.9%), and the Middle East at 10.9 trillion won (1.5%). Foreign investors net purchased 5.668 trillion won in listed bonds last month. The total bond holdings as of the end of February amounted to 271.5 trillion won, which accounts for 10.3% of the total listed debt. By region, Europe led with a net investment of 3.1 trillion won in bonds, followed by Asia with 2 trillion won. Conversely, the Americas showed a net divestment of 100 billion won. As of the end of February, the largest bond holdings by foreign investors were from Asia, amounting to 112.5 trillion won (45.0%), followed by Europe at 95.4 trillion won (34.8%). Foreign investors net bought 6.3 trillion won in government bonds and net sold 600 billion won in special bonds. Consequently, as of the end of February, the total holdings were 246.9 trillion won (90.9%) in government bonds and 24.5 trillion won (9.0%) in special bonds. In terms of maturity, foreign investors held 54 trillion won (19.9%) in bonds maturing within a year, 98.6 trillion won (36.3%) in bonds maturing between one and five years, and 119 trillion won (43.8%) in bonds maturing over five years.