Foreigners sold South Korean equities last month by most since early 2020

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s capital markets in December experienced the largest foreign outflows since March 2020 as heightened political uncertainty hit investor sentiment, central bank data showed on Wednesday.

Foreigners last month extended their South Korean stock market selloff to a fourth straight month by selling a net $2.58 billion.

In the bond market, they turned net sellers for the first time in nine months, with a net outflow of $1.28 billion.

The monthly outflow of a combined $3.86 billion was the biggest since March 2020, when global financial markets were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Bank of Korea.

Last month, the won weakened 5.2% against the dollar, marking its largest monthly decline in 22 months on heightened political uncertainty after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law on Dec. 3.