Seoul: Foreign ownership as a share of total market capitalisation reached its highest level in five years and eight months in December amid a rally in the South Korean equity market, a report showed on Sunday.
Foreigners bought a net 3.5 trillion won (US$2.4 billion) worth of local shares in December, raising their stockholdings to 32.9 percent of total market capitalsation, the highest level since April 2020, according to a report published by the Korea Center for International Finance (KCIF), reports Yonhap news agency.
Separate data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) showed that foreign ownership stood at 29.6 percent as of November, compared with 31.5 percent in April 2020. The FSS has yet to release its December figures.
The KCIF report said foreign investors purchased a net 4.5 trillion won worth of shares in the electronics sector in December, including 2.2 trillion won in SK hynix and 1.4 trillion won in Samsung Electronics.
As a result, foreign ownership of SK hynix rose to 53.8 percent in December from 53.2 percent a month earlier. Foreign holdings in Samsung Electronics also advanced to 52.3 percent from 52.2 percent over the same period.
In the bond market, foreign investors bought a net 8.8 trillion won worth of bonds last month, the report said.
The KCIF attributed the sharp rise in foreign investment to expectations that robust global demand for memory chips will benefit South Korean chipmakers.
The Seoul government’s policies aimed at reforming the stock market and improving corporate value also helped attract foreign investors, the report added.
South Korea’s benchmark stock index closed at 4,214.17 on Dec. 30, the last trading day of 2025, up 75.7 percent compared with the first trading day of the year.
Meanwhile, South Korean stocks surged more than 2 per cent on Friday to close at an all-time high, led by strong gains in large-cap semiconductor shares. The local currency weakened against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 95.46 points, or 2.27 percent, to close at 4,309.63, climbing past the 4,300 level for the first time ever.
(IANS)
