S Korea's investment in foreign securities plunges

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IANS | 28 Feb, 2012
Foreign securities invested by South Korea's financial institutions plunged last year, the central bank said Tuesday.

Foreign currency-denominated securities held by domestic financial institutions stood at $58.2 billion as of the end of 2011, down $11.4 billion from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Last year's drop came as mark-to-market valuation for investments in overseas stocks contracted sharply due to the drop in global stock prices. The BOK also attributed the drop to local asset managers who faced retrieval of money invested in foreign stock-typed mutual funds, reported Xinhua.

Investment in overseas stocks shrank $12.87 billion year-on-year to $27.08 billion as of end-December. Stocks in China tumbled by 21.7 percent last year, while those for China's Hong Kong, Brazil and Japan plunged by 20 percent, 18.1 percent and 17.3 percent respectively.

In contrast, investment in foreign bonds edged up $0.69 billion year-on-year to $13.55 billion in 2011 due to a gain in the mark-to-market valuations, according to the BOK.