SEOUL, June 10 (Xinhua) - Foreign investors bought South Korean bonds for three straight months to May on low interest rate, financial watchdog data showed Monday.
Foreigners made a net investment worth 7.08 trillion won (6 billion U.S. dollars) in the domestic listed bond market in May, remaining net buyers since March, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
The net investment refers to foreign net buying minus maturing debts. Foreigners bought a net 9.8 trillion won (8.3 billion U.S. dollars) worth of local listed bonds.
The foreign holdings of local listed bonds reached a new monthly high of 119.2 trillion won (100 billion U.S. dollars) as of the end of May, accounting for 6.7 percent of the total listed bonds.
Asian investors held 41.7 percent of the total foreign bond holdings, trailed by European investors with 34.5 percent and American investors with 9.8 percent.
Meanwhile, offshore investors sold a net 2.92 trillion won (2.5 billion U.S. dollars) worth of local listed stocks in May, marking the biggest net sale since October last year.
U.S. and Irish investors were net sellers, while Singaporean and British investors were net buyers in the local stock market.
The foreign ownership of domestic listed stocks reached 532.4 trillion won (449.4 billion U.S. dollars) as of end-May, taking up 32.3 percent of the total market capitalization.
