Foreign investors turned net buyers of South Korean stocks in July on a rosy outlook for the chipmaking and secondary battery sectors, central bank data showed Thursday.
Offshore investors bought a net US$440 million worth of local stocks last month, a turnaround from a net selling of $310 million a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The central bank said foreigners' net stock purchases were driven by an upbeat outlook for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, as well as secondary battery makers, such as LG Energy Solution.
Foreigners bought a net $6 million worth of local bonds, compared with a net buying of $3.23 billion a month earlier.
Meanwhile, the premium on credit default swaps (CDS) for South Korea's five-year dollar-denominated currency stabilization bonds amounted to 31 basis points in July, down from the previous month's 35 basis points. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
The CDS premium reflects the cost of hedging credit risks on corporate or sovereign debt. A rise implies a drop in the credit spreads of sovereign bonds and higher borrowing costs.
Source: Yonhap News Agency