FIIs offload $6.2-bn on main Seoul bourse this year

Foreign investors have posted a net sale of around 9 trillion won ($6.2 billion) on the main bourse this year through last week, data showed. Overseas investors have sold a net 9.1 trillion won worth of shares on the main bourse in 2026 as of Friday, compared with a net sale of 4.6 trillion won for all of 2025, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX).

In detail, foreigners sold a net 9.5 trillion won worth of shares in Samsung Electronics Co., with the stock soaring 59 percent this year alone and surpassing the 190,000-won mark for the first time on Thursday, reports Yonhap news agency.

Analysts said foreigners appeared to have sold Seoul shares to cash in recent gains rather than due to a pessimistic view of the South Korean stock market.

"Foreigners were net sellers on the main bourse this year, but it is hard to say they are betting on a downward trend," Lee Kyoung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities Co., said. "Considering that their selling was centered on chipmakers, it appears to be a short-term rebalancing process aimed at reducing the portion of shares that have gained sharply," Lee added.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 131.28 points, or 2.31 percent, on Friday to close at an all-time high of 5,803.53.

Meanwhile, financial authorities are reviewing measures to curb loan extensions for owners of multiple homes in regulated areas of the greater Seoul region in line with the government's push to cool the overheated real estate market, sources said on Sunday.

According to the sources, the Financial Services Commission plans to hold a meeting Tuesday with the country's five major banks and financial cooperatives to discuss ways to revamp loan extension practices for owners of multiple homes.

The move came as the government has clarified that an exemption of heavy capital gains tax for owners of multiple homes will expire in May.