SEOUL, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Foreign investors bought South Korean stocks for the sixth successive month in April thanks to the government's ban on stock short-selling, financial watchdog data showed Wednesday.
Foreigners acquired a net 2.63 trillion won (1.9 billion U.S. dollars) worth of domestic listed stocks in April, remaining net buyers since November last year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
Offshore investors were net buyers in the main bourse KOSPI, but they turned into net sellers in the smaller KOSDAQ market.
The consecutive foreign purchase came after the financial authorities prohibited the short-selling on all listed stocks in November last year.
Short-selling refers to the sale of stocks by borrowing them in anticipation of price fall, before repaying the borrowed shares when the price goes down. It has been seen as one of the main culprits for the stock market rout.
Foreign holdings of local listed stocks totaled 802.5 trillion won (587.9 billion dollars) at the end of April, taking up 28.9 percent of the total market capitalization.
Overseas investors bought a net 5.42 trillion won (4 billion dollars) worth of domestic listed bonds in April.
Given the maturing debts worth 2.85 trillion won (2.1 billion dollars), the foreign net investment in the local bond market stood at 2.57 trillion won (1.9 billion dollars) last month.
Foreign ownership of local bonds came in at 247.2 trillion won (181.1 billion dollars) at the end of April, accounting for 9.7 percent of the total listed bonds. ■
