Foreign Investors Maintain 7-Month Selling Streak in Korean Stocks... Net Sales of 32 Trillion Won in July

Foreign investors have continued to hold a net selling position in domestic stocks for seven consecutive months.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's "Trends in Foreign Securities Investment in July 2026" released on August 21, foreign investors recorded a net sale of domestic listed stocks for seven consecutive months last month.

The net selling amount last month was KRW 31.664 trillion, a slight decrease from the previous month's KRW 49.336 trillion. Foreign investors had a net sale of KRW 30.776 trillion on KOSPI and KRW 889 billion on KOSDAQ. The total holdings of domestic stocks by foreign investors amounted to KRW 2,255.5 trillion, accounting for 35.8% of the total market capitalization.

By country, the largest net sellers were the United Kingdom (KRW 20.237 trillion), Singapore (KRW 3.805 trillion), and Canada (KRW 2.355 trillion). The largest net buyers were the United States (KRW 3.452 trillion), Australia (KRW 1.395 trillion), and the Cayman Islands (KRW 780 billion).

In terms of holdings by region, the United States accounted for KRW 977.8 trillion, representing 43.4% of all foreign holdings. Europe followed at KRW 675.9 trillion (30.0%), Asia at KRW 310.1 trillion (13.7%), and the Middle East at KRW 45.1 trillion (2.0%).

Last month, foreign investors made a net purchase of KRW 4.768 trillion in domestic listed bonds and received KRW 2.38 trillion in principal repayments, resulting in a net investment of KRW 2.388 trillion. Foreign holdings amounted to KRW 336.1 trillion, or 11.7% of the total listed bonds outstanding.

By region, Asia made a net investment of KRW 2.7 trillion, the Americas KRW 2.2 trillion, and the Middle East KRW 1.6 trillion, while Europe made a net withdrawal of KRW 4.4 trillion. In terms of holdings, Asia accounted for KRW 137.7 trillion and Europe for KRW 123 trillion, with their respective shares being 41.0% and 36.6% of the total.

By bond type, foreign investors made a net investment of KRW 2.6 trillion in government bonds and a net withdrawal of KRW 200 billion in special bonds. Total holdings of government bonds stood at KRW 319.5 trillion, while holdings of special bonds amounted to KRW 16.5 trillion.

By remaining maturity, foreign investors achieved net investments in bonds with maturities of more than 1 year but less than 5 years (KRW 5.2 trillion) and more than 5 years (KRW 3.1 trillion), while making a net withdrawal from bonds with less than 1 year maturity (KRW 5.9 trillion).

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