By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
U.S. investors have led a recent selling spree of local stocks by foreigners on profit taking amid the bullish market run.
According to the securities industry Sunday, foreign equity investors have posted 7.5 trillion won in net selling since July 13, of which U.S.-based investors dumped shares worth 2.6 trillion won, outpacing other foreign nationals.
Those who invested in local equities through the Cayman Islands came in second with 1.16 trillion won, followed by British investors with 1.1 trillion won and Swiss investors with 735 billion won.
In contrast, investment funds based in Ireland net purchased local shares valuated at 166 billion won over the past month, while investors from the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand bought stocks worth 162 billion won and 115 billion won, respectively.
``In June, European investors unloaded domestic stocks worth 3.5 trillion won, accounting for 87.5 percent of the total foreign net selling of 4 trillion won. The majority of them bought shares before 2000 and disposed of their holdings on profit taking amid the recent bullish run,'' a local securities analyst said.
He said since July, investors of other foreign nationalities have jumped on the bandwagon and dumped a larger number of shares to realize profits, adding that the growing concerns over U.S. subprime loan defaults have further encouraged foreigners to sell Korean stocks in search of safer assets.
But he expected the ongoing foreign sell-off to slow in the near future, citing strong market fundamentals and improving corporate earnings.