Invest KOREA

Foreign holdings of South Korean shares hit a record-high level as of the end of 2010 on the back of the country's strong stock market performance, the financial regulator said Sunday.

As of the end of 2010, foreigners owned total shares worth 386.4 trillion won (US$345 billion) listed on the main KOSPI index, compared with 296 trillion won a year earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a report.

The latest holdings mark the highest amount held by foreign investors ever and represent 31.3 percent of total market capitalization, the FSS noted.

The result came as the benchmark KOSPI jumped 21.9 percent during the last year, the fifth-strongest gain among 34 member countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the regulator said.

Foreigners' net buying reached 22.7 trillion won during 2010, the second straight year of net purchase, the FSS said.

Source: Yonhap News (Jan. 2, 2011)