"Foreign Investors Return": Net Buying of Korean Stocks After 8 Months... Outflows From Bonds

Foreign Securities Investment Trends in August 2026

Foreign investors, who had been selling Korean stocks, turned net buyers in the domestic stock market last month for the first time in eight months. In contrast, capital outflows by foreigners were observed in the bond market.

According to the "Trends in Foreign Securities Investment for August 2026" released by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 18th, foreigners made net purchases of KRW 344 billion in listed stocks last month. They were net buyers of KRW 1.888 trillion on the Korea Exchange, whereas they recorded net sales of KRW 1.545 trillion on the KOSDAQ market.

As a result, as of the end of last month, the balance of listed stocks held by foreigners increased by KRW 2.51 trillion from the previous month to KRW 2,280.6 trillion. The proportion of foreign investors in the total market capitalization stood at 34.8%.

By region, net buying by investors from the Americas, including the United States, stood out. Investors from the Americas made net purchases of KRW 13.408 trillion. On the other hand, investors from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East recorded net sales of KRW 10.731 trillion, KRW 1.24 trillion, and KRW 400 billion, respectively. By country, there were net purchases in the United States (KRW 13.382 trillion), Ireland (KRW 3.205 trillion), and Luxembourg (KRW 2.34 trillion), while net sales were recorded in the United Kingdom (KRW 16.895 trillion), the Cayman Islands (KRW 2.718 trillion), and Hong Kong (KRW 1.815 trillion).

As of the end of August, by country, the United States accounted for KRW 999.655 trillion of foreign-held domestic stocks, representing 43.8% of all foreign holdings. This was followed by the United Kingdom with KRW 176.786 trillion (7.8%), Singapore with KRW 139.915 trillion (6.1%), Luxembourg with KRW 129.962 trillion (5.7%), and Ireland with KRW 114.562 trillion (5.0%).

In the bond market, foreigners shifted to net withdrawals after four months. Last month, foreigners made net sales of KRW 3.935 trillion in listed bonds and, combined with KRW 801 billion in maturities, net withdrawals totaled KRW 4.736 trillion. Accordingly, at the end of August, foreign investors' holdings of domestic listed bonds decreased by KRW 5.8 trillion from the previous month to KRW 330.3 trillion. Foreign investors accounted for 11.4% of the total outstanding listed bonds.

By region, Asian investors recorded net investments of KRW 2.279 trillion, and investors from the Middle East made net investments of KRW 7 billion. In contrast, European investors withdrew KRW 5.1 trillion, and investors from the Americas withdrew KRW 881 billion.

By bond type, foreigners withdrew KRW 3.527 trillion from government bonds and KRW 1.221 trillion from special bonds. As of the end of August, government bonds accounted for KRW 315.018 trillion, or 95.4% of foreign bond holdings, while special bonds accounted for KRW 15.148 trillion, or 4.6%.

By residual maturity, there were net investments of KRW 2.13 trillion in long-term bonds with maturities of five years or longer, but net withdrawals of KRW 6.265 trillion from bonds with maturities of less than one year and KRW 601 billion from bonds with maturities between one and five years. At the end of August, the largest holdings were in bonds with maturities of five years or longer at KRW 153.469 trillion (46.5%), followed by one to five years at KRW 124.729 trillion (37.8%), and less than one year at KRW 52.069 trillion (15.8%).

As a result, at the end of August, the total amount of domestic listed securities held by foreigners was KRW 2,280.6 trillion in stocks and KRW 330.3 trillion in bonds, totaling KRW 2,610.9 trillion.

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