Foreign stock investors turn net buyers in July

SEOUL (Yonhap) - Foreign investors scooped up South Korean stocks in July as jitters over the eurozone debt crisis eased, the financial regulator said Wednesday.
Overseas investors bought a net 2.2 trillion won (US$2.1 billion) of local equities in July, snapping a two-month selling streak in May and June, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
"As concerns over Europe's financial crisis somewhat eased, overseas investors raked in local shares," the FSS said. "However, foreigners offloaded a net 1.7 trillion won worth of local shares in the latter half of July due to concerns over debts in Greece and Italy as well as worries over the U.S. debt limit."
Foreign stock ownership reached 30.2 percent of the total market cap as of end-July, holding local shares worth 399.3 trillion won, up from 392.9 trillion won a month earlier, the regulator said.
French investors were the biggest net buyers in July, purchasing shares worth 693 billion won. U.S. investors came next with 521.5 billion won, marking a sharp turnaround from a net 504.1 billion won selling last month.
In contrast, investors from the Cayman Islands remained net sellers for the sixth straight month, offloading shares worth 258.4 billion won in July.
Overseas investors snapped up a net 2.9 trillion won of Korea's listed bonds last month amid anticipation of a strengthening Korean won and a growing appetite for safer assets, the FSS said.
July marked their sixth straight month of a net bond purchase.
Foreign ownership of local listed bonds hit a fresh high of 84.2 trillion won as of end-July, it added.