Foreigners sell S. Korean stocks over weak won

Foreign investors turned into net sellers in the South Korean stock market for the first time in six months as the local currency depreciated to the U.S. dollar and caused concerns over foreign exchange losses, financial watchdog data showed Tuesday.

Foreigners sold a net 494 billion won (463 million U.S. dollars) worth of local stocks, the first sales in six months, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Foreign holdings of local stocks reached 437.8 trillion won as of end-September, accounting for 32.1 percent of the total market capitalization.

Investors from Europe led the September selling. British investors were the largest seller with 1 trillion won worth of sales, followed by German and Norwegian investors with 400 trillion won and 300 billion won respectively.

Japanese and U.S. investors bought domestic shares worth 1 trillion won and 800 billion won each.

Foreigners shifted into net buyers in the local bond market, making a net investment worth 499 billion won. The net investment means net bond buying minus maturing debts.

Net bond buying reached 4.2 trillion won in September, up 1.9 trillion won from the prior month.

Net bond investment by Chinese investors posted 300 billion won, marking the largest, and British and Malaysian investors recorded net investments worth some 200 billion won.