Foreigners buy S.Korean stocks for the first time in 5 months

Foreign investors turned into net buyers in the South Korean stock market for the first time in five months thanks to stable moves in China stocks, financial watchdog data showed Tuesday.

Foreigners purchased a net 584 billion won (500 million U.S. dollars) worth of local stocks in October, ending the so-called "Sell Korea" trend that had continued from June to September, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

The FSS attributed the foreign purchase to stable stock moves in China, South Korea's largest trading partner, and weaker worries about global economic slowdown.

The financial watchdog, however, cautioned that there remained external uncertainties such as the expected rate hike in the United States in December.

Singaporean investors were the largest buyer of local stocks, purchasing a net 1.09 trillion won worth of shares. It was followed by Swiss and Irish investors who bought shares worth 437 billion won and 339 billion won each.

Saudi investors dumped local shares worth 1.9 trillion won last month, and investors from Luxembourg and Virgin Island reduced stock holdings by 170 billion won and 161 billion won respectively.

The FSS noted that the so-called oil money from the Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, withdrew their investment from the local stock market amid lower crude oil prices.

As of the end of October, foreign ownership of local stocks totaled 441.8 trillion won, up 27.6 trillion won from a month earlier. Enditem