Foreign investors sell Korean stocks for seventh straight month

Despite a rising domestic stock market this year, foreign investors have continued their exodus for seven consecutive months.

According to the Bank of Korea's "Trends in International Finance and Foreign Exchange Markets after February 2025," foreign investors have been selling Korean stocks since last August. Over this period, net capital outflows reached 19.44 billion U.S. dollars.

Although the domestic stock market has risen by more than 7% this year, foreign investors remain cautious amid heightened global volatility due to trade disputes and persistent high exchange rates, which have dampened appetite for Korean equities.

The weakened investment sentiment in the semiconductor sector, driven by the Deepseek shock, also appears to have played a role. However, unlike the stock market, the domestic bond market attracted about 3.54 billion dollars in foreign capital last month alone, as demand for existing medium- to long-term bonds surged amid expectations of interest rate cuts.

Despite the continued weakening of the U.S. dollar, the Korean won has not seen significant appreciation. On Monday, the won-dollar exchange rate stood at 1,452.3 won per dollar, barely changing from 1,452.7 won at the end of January. Over the same period, the U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the dollar’s value against six major currencies, fell sharply from 108.4 to 103.9.


이동훈 기자 dhlee@donga.com