Foreign Investors Net Sellers of Domestic Stocks for 4 Consecutive Months... Shift to Net Investment in Bonds

Foreign Investors Net Sold 4.5 Trillion Won in Korean Stocks in April
United States Remains the Largest Holder of Domestic Stocks

Foreign investors have been net sellers of domestic listed stocks for four consecutive months, while they have shifted to net investments in listed bonds.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s “Trends in Foreign Securities Investment in April 2026,” released on May 29, foreign investors recorded a net sale of 4.046 trillion won in domestic listed stocks last month. Foreign investors have maintained net sales of domestic listed stocks for four straight months: 98 billion won in January, 19.558 trillion won in February, and 43.505 trillion won in March.

Last month, foreign investors posted a net sale of 3.638 trillion won in KOSPI-listed stocks and 408 billion won in KOSDAQ-listed stocks. As of the end of last month, foreign investors’ holdings of domestic listed stocks stood at 2,121.4 trillion won, accounting for 32.5% of the total market capitalization.

By region, foreign investors recorded net sales of 1.8 trillion won from Asia, 1.6 trillion won from the Americas, and 200 billion won from Europe last month. In the Middle East, there was a net purchase of 200 billion won. By country, Singapore saw net sales of 3.4 trillion won and the United Kingdom 2.5 trillion won, while Norway and Luxembourg recorded net purchases of 1.7 trillion won and 1.6 trillion won, respectively.

At the end of last month, the United States was the largest holder of domestic listed stocks, with holdings of 886.5 trillion won, representing 41.8% of total foreign holdings. This was followed by the United Kingdom with 217.5 trillion won, Singapore with 132.4 trillion won, and Luxembourg with 117.4 trillion won.

Last month, foreign investors made net purchases of 8.089 trillion won in domestic listed bonds and received 7.647 trillion won in maturities, resulting in a net investment of 442 billion won. At the end of last month, foreign holdings of domestic listed bonds stood at 325.2 trillion won, accounting for 11.6% of the total listed balance.

By region, Europe recorded a net investment of 2 trillion won and the Americas 700 billion won, while the Middle East and Asia recorded net withdrawals of 800 billion won and 100 billion won, respectively. By holdings, Asia accounted for the largest share with 130.5 trillion won, representing 40.1% of the total foreign bond holdings, followed by Europe with 124.7 trillion won or 38.4% of the total.

Foreign investors made net investments of 4.7 trillion won in government bonds and net withdrawals of 1.4 trillion won in monetary stabilization bonds. As a result, foreign holdings of government bonds stood at 306.6 trillion won, while holdings of special bonds totaled 18.5 trillion won.

By remaining maturity, foreign investors made net investments of 5.7 trillion won in bonds with maturities of 1 to less than 5 years and 3.8 trillion won in bonds with maturities of 5 years or more, while withdrawing 9.1 trillion won from bonds with maturities of less than 1 year. As of the end of last month, foreign investors held 67.8 trillion won in bonds with less than 1 year to maturity, 109.1 trillion won in bonds with 1 to less than 5 years to maturity, and 148.2 trillion won in bonds with 5 years or more to maturity.

In summary, last month, foreign investors were net sellers of domestic listed stocks and net investors in domestic listed bonds, resulting in a total net withdrawal of 3.604 trillion won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.