foreigners-May stock trading
Foreigners maintain stock buying mode for 2nd month in May
SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- Foreign investors maintained their buying of South Korean stocks in May on a rosy outlook for the chipmaking sector and eased woes over a U.S. debt ceiling deal, central bank data showed Monday.
Offshore investors bought a net US$2.48 billion worth of local stocks last month, following a net buying of $910 million a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.
The central bank said foreigners' net stock purchase was driven by an upbeat outlook for chipmakers, such as Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., and an eased U.S. debt ceiling issue.
Foreigners also bought a net $8.96 billion worth of local bonds in May, the third straight month of net buying.
Meanwhile, the premium on credit default swaps (CDS) for South Korea's five-year dollar-denominated currency stabilization bonds amounted to 43 basis points in May, down from the previous month's 45 basis points. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
The CDS premium reflects the cost of hedging credit risks on corporate or sovereign debt. A rise implies a drop in the credit of sovereign bonds and higher borrowing costs.
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