Foreign investors became net sellers of South Korean shares in August, ending their nine-month buying streak, data showed Friday.

Offshore investors net sold 2.51 trillion won (US$1.87 billion) worth of local shares last month, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

Foreigners had remained net buyers of local shares since November.

After their net selling in August, their cumulative holdings of listed stocks came to 802.1 trillion won, accounting for 29.2 percent of total market capitalization, sharply down from 30.1 percent the previous month.

By nation, investors from Canada purchased a net 665 billion won worth of local shares, followed by those from Ireland at 328 billion won and Sweden at 186 billion won.

Investors from Britain sold a net 1.97 trillion won, while those from the United Arab Emirates and the United States offloaded 339 billion won and 315 billion won, respectively.

Meanwhile, foreign investors net purchased some 8.01 trillion won worth of local listed bonds in
the month, becoming net buyers after two consecutive months of net selling.

Their bond holdings stood at 259.4 trillion won as of end-August, accounting for 10.1 percent of total listed bonds, up from 9.8 percent a month before.

Source: Yonhap News Agency