New data show foreigners’ net purchase of South Korean stocks surpassed ten trillion won or roughly nine-point-four billion U.S. dollars last year. 

According to the Financial Supervisory Service(FSS) on Monday, foreigners purchased ten-point-two trillion won worth of stocks listed on the South Korean bourse in 2017, more than they sold in the same market within the year. 

Foreign investors also bought more local stocks than they dumped for eight consecutive months from December 2016 to July last year. 

The buying was partly driven by improving performance or growing exports by Korean companies, including those in the information and telecommunication industries like Samsung Electronics. 

American investors were the biggest net buyers at 13-point-two trillion won, followed by Europeans at one-point-four trillion won. 

On the other hand, investors from the Middle East and Asia net sold three-point-three trillion won and one-trillion won worth of stocks, respectively.