S.Korea's financial institutions buy most foreign securities since global crisis

South Korea's financial institutions bought the most foreign securities in the second quarter since the 2008 global financial crisis, bolstering the recovery in appetite for risky assets, central bank data showed Tuesday.

Foreign securities investment outstanding among local institutions, including securities firms, asset managers and insurers, reached 90.3 billion U.S. dollars as of end-June, up 10 billion dollars from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The second-quarter increase marked the largest since 15.15 billion dollars of growth tallied in the fourth quarter of 2007, right before the global financial crisis occurred. It topped a 9.3 billion-dollar expansion in the entire year of 2013.

The increase came as demand for foreign securities became strong on ample foreign currency liquidity caused by the continued current account surplus. Insurers and securities firms raised holdings of foreign bonds strategically.

A rise in investment return from stock holdings also contributed to the growth in foreign securities outstanding, which surpassed the 90 billion dollar mark for the first time in six years.

A main stock index of Brazil jumped 5.5 percent in the second quarter, with those for Hong Kong, China, Japan, the United States and Europe rising 4.7 percent, 2.6 percent, 2.3 percent, 2.2 percent and 2.1 percent respectively.