Korean Investors’ Foreign Stock Trading Totals US$198.32 Bil. in 2020

South Korean investors’ foreign stock trading totaled US$198.322 billion in 2020, up 383.9 percent from a year earlier.

The Korea Securities Depository announced on Jan. 4 that South Korean investors’ foreign stock trading totaled US$198.322 billion last year, up 383.9 percent from a year earlier.Previously, the annual total stood at US$3.1 billion in 2011 and rose to US$13.9 billion in 2015. Then, it reached US$22.7 billion in 2017, US$32.5 billion in 2018 and US$40.9 billion in 2019.

Their net foreign stock purchase was US$19.734 billion, up 685.9 percent from a year earlier. For reference, the figure is equal to approximately half of the individual investors’ net buy in KOSPI for 2020. U.S. stocks accounted for 90 percent of the net purchase. The value was US$1.122 billion in China, US$880 million in Hong Kong, US$162 million in Japan and negative US$64.43 million in the eurozone.

Last year, the investors’ 50 favorites consisted of no less than 41 U.S. stocks along with five Japanese, three Hong Kong and one Chinese. The list was topped by Tesla, in which the investors recorded a net buy of more than US$3 billion. In addition, they net bought US$1.899 billion of Apple shares, US$833 million of Amazon shares and US$674 million of Nvidia shares.