Foreigners reduce stock buying in January

Foreign investors sharply reduced their purchase of South Korean stocks last month as part of moves to lock in profits following recent big market gains, the financial regulator said Thursday.

Foreigners bought a net 1.4 trillion won (US$1.3 billion) of local shares in January, sharply slowing from the purchase of 3.9 trillion won in December, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Foreign ownership of local shares reached 30.8 percent at the end of January, down from 31.2 percent a month earlier, it said.

Foreigners' profit taking is responsible for the steep reduction in foreign stock buying, it added.

Meanwhile, foreign investors sold a net 441.7 billion won in South Korean bonds last month, after selling a net 5.3 trillion won the previous month, the regulator said.

Foreign ownership of local bonds remained unchanged at 6.6 percent in January, it said.

"Jitters over potential rate hikes aimed to fight inflation growth and uncertainties over the country's cross-border capital controls led to foreigners' bond sell-offs," the FSS said. (Yonhap)