Foreigners kept up a net buying position for the third month in February while profit-taking on bonds as they bet against additional hike move from the central bank in the near future, given the worsening conditions of the Korean economy and inflation under 1 percent.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on Monday, offshore investors in February net purchased 1.65 trillion won in Korean stocks, maintaining a net buy position since December.

Investors from the Virgin Islands net bought 514 billion won worth stocks, those from the United Kingdom 436 billion won, and those from Luxembourg 404 billion won. Investors from Australia and Denmark, net sold 301 billion won and 154 billion won, respectively.

Foreign investors as of the end of February held 563.7 trillion won in Korean shares, accounting for 32.1 percent of the total market capitalization. Americans owned the most, worth 240.9 trillion won to make up 42.7 percent of foreign ownership. They were followed by investors from the U.K. with 46.2 trillion won, Luxembourg with 36.2 trillion won, and Singapore with 20.7 trillion won.

In the bond market, offshore investors dumped Korean debts more than owning last month with net outflow recorded at 192 billion won. They net bought 1.9 trillion won worth bonds and took out 2.1 trillion won in bonds that matured.

Foreign ownership in Korean bonds totaled 110 trillion won as of February, accounting for 6.3 percent of the total debt market.

By Jin Young-tae and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]