SOUTH KOREANS TURN TO NET SELLING OF US STOCKS, ENDING 4-MONTH BUYING STREAK: DATA

SEOUL, Dec 30 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- South Korean investors switched to net sellers of US stocks for the first time in around four months last week, data showed Tuesday, amid government measures to reshore capital into the local stock market, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Local investors sold a net US$281.4 million of equities in the United States between Dec 22-26, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).

It marks the first net selling of US stocks since the third week of August, when Korean investors released a net $207.9 million, according to the data.

The sharp turnaround comes amid the government's efforts to curb a continued net outflow of capital by local investors, partly causing the Korean won to fall to its lowest level against the US dollar in nearly 16 years.

Financial authorities have urged brokerages to reduce marketing activities promoting overseas investments. On Wednesday, the government even introduced a temporary tax break for individuals who sell overseas stocks and reinvest in the local market.

Market watchers, however, said it remains to be seen whether domestic investors will come back to the local market, as other factors, such as a volatile foreign exchange market and year-end profit-taking, may have contributed to the recent turnaround in investor sentiment.

"If a 'money move' occurred, buying pressure from retail investors should have been more evident in the benchmark KOSPI market last week," Kim Jae-eung, an analyst from Hyundai Motor Securities, said.

Last week, retail investors sold a net 7 trillion won (US$4.9 billion) of local stocks. But their deposits, or cash waiting for investment, reached a monthly high of 85.4 trillion won on Friday, according to the KSD data.

-- BERNAMA-YONHAP