SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Foreigners bought South Korean stocks for the sixth straight month due to solid demand for semiconductor stocks and the government's efforts to boost the stock market, financial watchdog data showed Friday.
Offshore investors purchased a net 4.21 trillion won (2.9 billion U.S. dollars) worth of local listed stocks in October, remaining net buyers since May, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
Foreign investors continued to be net buyers in the main bourse KOSPI, while they shifted into net buyers in the smaller KOSDAQ market.
The foreign stock purchase came as the government revised laws and regulations to bolster the stock market.
Demand surged for semiconductor stocks amid expectations for higher chip demand relevant to artificial intelligence (AI).
Foreign holdings of local listed stocks totaled 1,248.9 trillion won (851.6 billion dollars) at the end of October, taking up 30.1 percent of the total market capitalization.
Overseas investors snapped up a net 3.82 trillion won (2.6 billion dollars) worth of domestic listed bonds in October.
Given the maturing debts worth 4.0 trillion won (2.7 billion dollars), the foreign net disinvestment in the local bond market stood at 178 billion won (121.4 million dollars) last month.
The foreign ownership of domestic listed bonds amounted to 307.0 trillion won (209.3 billion dollars) at the end of October, accounting for 11.2 percent of the total listed bonds. ■
