▶주메뉴 바로가기

▶본문 바로가기

The Korea Herald
검색폼

THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Stocks & Bonds

Foreign ownership of KOSDAQ stocks hits record high

  • PUBLISHED :August 18, 2017 - 09:59
  • UPDATED :August 18, 2017 - 09:59
  • 폰트작게
  • 폰트크게
  • facebook
  • sms
  • print
[THE INVESTOR] Foreign ownership of stocks traded on South Korea’s secondary stock market has hit a new high, data showed on Aug. 18, as offshore investors seek value in tech firms there after exiting the main bourse. 

As of Aug. 17, offshore investors held 25.98 trillion won (US$22.8 billion) worth of shares traded on the KOSDAQ for tech and smaller firms, the highest level since the market opened in 1996, according to the data from the Korea Exchange.

Foreign ownership came to nearly 12 percent of the total capitalization of all stocks registered with the tech-laden bourse, marking a nine-year high.
Market watchers said some foreign investors seem to be moving their funds to the secondary market as the main bourse has recently undergone a correction amid saber-rattling between the US and North Korea over the latter’s launches of two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July.

Amid heightened geopolitical risks, foreigners sold a net 1.37 trillion won on the main market between Aug. 7 and Aug. 17.

Offshore investors bought a net 84.2 billion won on the KOSDAQ market over the cited period with their net buying reaching 122.7 billion won during the past three sessions.

“During the main market’s correction period, foreign investors appear to have turned to relatively undervalued stocks traded on the secondary market,” said Lee Kyung-min, a senior analyst at Daeshin Investment & Securities Co. 

The benchmark KOSPI ended higher for the third session running on Thursday, after falling for several days amid a series of bitter verbal exchanges between Washington and Pyongyang.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)

EDITOR'S PICKS