Foreigners sell S. Korean stocks for 2 months on strong dollar

Foreigners have sold South Korean stocks for two months in a row as the local currency's fall to the U.S. dollar fueled worries about foreign exchange losses, financial watchdog data showed Monday.

Foreign investors sold a net 2.12 trillion won (1.95 billion U. S. dollars) worth of local stocks in October, keeping a selling trend for the second straight month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

The foreign selling came as expectations for the rate hike in the United States as early as the second half of next year led the U.S. dollar to appreciate to the South Korean currency.

The local currency's depreciation to the dollar boosted concerns among foreigners about losses from the foreign exchange movement. It caused a foreign fund flow out of the local stock market.

As of the end of October, foreign holdings of local stocks accounted for 32.1 percent of the total value of listed stocks on the main bourse.

Investors from Bermuda, a famous safe haven, were the largest sellers with a 691.1 billion won worth of stocks in sales.

It was followed by British and Luxembourg investors who offloaded stocks worth 643.2 billion won and 579.9 billion won respectively.

U.S. investors turned into net sellers for the first time in eight months, but Japanese investors raised holdings of local stocks by 330.8 billion won last month.

Net investment by foreigners in the local bond market reached 1. 29 trillion won in October, keeping a net buying trend for the second straight month. The net investment means foreign net buying minus bonds that mature last month.

As of the end of October, foreign ownership of local listed bonds totaled 99.9 trillion won.