Koreans’ trading of foreign stocks plunges on China woes

By 안성미

Published : July 17, 2016 - 15:18

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[THE INVESTOR] South Koreans’ direct trading of foreign shares dropped significantly in the first half of the year as a result of a decline in investment in the Chinese market, data showed on July 17.

During the January-June period, the total transaction volume of foreign shares by South Koreans came to US$ 6.23 billion, down by 15.96 percent from US$ 7.41 billion recorded a year earlier, according to Korea Securities Depository. The amount is a decrease of 7.74 percent from US$ 6.75 billion in the July-December period last year.

The trade volume of Chinese stocks fell 70.43 percent to US$ 550,000 from US$ 1.86 million in the latter half of 2015.

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“As worries about the Chinese economy’s hard landing were raised in January this year, the global equity market, including the U.S and Europe, was negatively impacted,” said Hwang Se-woon, a senior researcher at the Korea Capital Market Institute.

On the contrary, South Koreans traded a total of US$ 1.24 billion in European shares in the first half of the year, exceeding the US$ 90,000 recorded during the July-December period last year.

The industry experts said the trend was temporary, as investors concern about the unstable Chinese economy prompted the increasing interest in the European markets.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)

Koreans’ trading of foreign stocks plunges on China woes

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