S. Korea's institutional investment in foreign securities grows in Q3

SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's institutional investment in foreign securities grew in the third quarter owing to higher demand for both foreign stocks and bonds, central bank data showed Monday.

Outstanding investment in foreign securities, including foreign stocks and bonds owned by local financial institutions, amounted to 490.21 billion U.S. dollars at the end of September, up 5.3 percent from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.

The growth was attributed to stock market boom in major economies and interest rate cuts in the United States.

The institutional holdings of foreign stocks advanced 19.13 billion dollars from three months earlier to 276.29 billion dollars at the end of September, while the ownership of foreign bonds mounted 4.66 billion dollars to 180.69 billion dollars.

The holdings of Korean Paper, which refers to the foreign currency-denominated bonds issued overseas by domestic institutions and companies, added 0.88 billion dollars to 33.23 billion dollars in the cited quarter.

Foreign securities possessed by asset managers, insurers, securities firms and foreign exchange banks all expanded during the July-September quarter. Enditem