Foreigners turn net buyers of local stocks in April

foreigners-April stock trading

Foreigners turn net buyers of local stocks in April

SEOUL, May 11 (Yonhap) -- Foreign investors turned net buyers of South Korean stocks in April on a rosy outlook for the chipmaking sector, central bank data showed Thursday.

Offshore investors bought a net US$910 million worth of local stocks last month, a turnaround from a net selling of $1.73 billion a month earlier, the first net offloading of local stocks in six months, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The central bank said foreigners' net stock purchase was driven by an upbeat outlook for chipmakers, such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

Foreigners also bought a net $2.33 billion worth of local bonds, the second straight month of net buying.

Meanwhile, the premium on credit default swaps (CDS) for South Korea's five-year dollar-denominated currency stabilization bonds amounted to 45 basis points in April, up from the previous month's 43 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 of sovereign bonds and higher borrowing costs.

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