SEOUL, Foreign investors remained net buyers of South Korean stocks for the third consecutive month in January, data showed Thursday.

Offshore investors purchased a net 3.35 trillion won (US$2.51 billion) worth of local shares last month, up from a net purchase of 3.14 trillion won the previous month, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

As of end-January, the value of local stocks held by foreign investors came to 704 trillion won, accounting for 27.6 percent of total market capitalization.

Investors from Britain were the largest purchasers of South Korean stocks in January, net purchasing 3.2 trillion won worth of local shares, with U.S. investors scooping up a net 700 billion won. Investors from Saudi Arabia net sold 1.19 trillion won worth of shares.

Foreign investors also purchased 809 billion won worth of local bonds last month, one month after they turned net sellers of local bonds.

Their bond holdings stood at 245.4 trillion won as of end-January, accounting for 9.8 perce
nt of listed bonds here.

Source: Yonhap News Agency