SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Foreign investors bought South Korean bonds last month on expectations for a further policy rate cut, financial watchdog data showed Monday.

Foreigners bought a net 8.1 trillion won (6.8 billion U.S. dollars) worth of local listed bonds in September, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Given the matured debt worth 6.7 trillion won (5.7 billion U.S. dollars), offshore investors made a net investment of 1.4 trillion won (1.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the domestic bond market.

The net investment came amid the rising expectations for the Bank of Korea (BOK)'s additional rate cut by the end of this year. The BOK cut its policy rate in July from 1.75 percent to 1.50 percent to bolster the lackluster economy.

Foreign holdings of local bonds reached a record high of 127.2 trillion won (107.4 billion U.S. dollars) as of the end of September, taking up 7.0 percent of the total listed bonds.

Meanwhile, foreign investors sold a net 915 billion won (772.8 million U.S. dollars) worth of local shares last month, continuing a selling trend for the second consecutive month.

Foreign ownership of domestic shares amounted to 555.8 trillion won (469.4 billion U.S. dollars) as of end-September, accounting for 33.6 percent of the total market capitalization. Enditem

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