Key Points

The outstanding value of foreign securities held by local institutional investors stood at US$465.53 billion as of end-June, up by $34.76 billion from three months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK), reports Yonhap news agency.

Foreign securities include stocks, bonds and "Korean paper," which refers to foreign currency-denominated securities issued by the South Korean government, banks and companies in overseas markets.

Institutions' investment in foreign stocks advanced $24.29 billion on-quarter, and the value of their foreign bond holdings also climbed by $9.19 billion.

"Net investments in foreign stocks and bonds have increased, resulting in valuation gains, primarily due to the strong performance of the U.S. stock market and expectations of the U.S.' interest rate cuts," a BOK official said.

Meanwhile, the combined sales of South Korea's small and midsized enterprises (SMEs) fell slightly in 2023 from a year earlier, marking the first drop in four years, a government report showed on Friday.

The number of SMEs reached 8.3 million at the end of 2023, up 3.2 percent, or 256,000, from a year earlier, according to the annual report published by the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Startups.

SMEs had 19.12 million employees as of end-2023, marking a 0.9 percent increase from a year earlier.

Their combined sales came to 3,301.3 trillion won (US$2.38 trillion), down 0.2 percent from a year earlier.

It marks the first on-year decline since 2020, following steady growth from 2,675 trillion won in 2020 to 3,017 trillion won in 2021 and 3,309 trillion won in 2022.

SMEs accounted for 99.9 percent of the country's total enterprises, 80.4 percent of employment and 44.9 percent of total sales.

By sector, SMEs in finance and insurance saw sales jump 17.9 percent on-year, while those in accommodation and food services climbed 8.7 percent. SMEs in manufacturing and wholesale, however, posted declines.

In terms of employment, hotels and restaurants hired 2.5 percent more employees in 2023 than a year earlier, while jobs in the transportation and storage sector dropped 4.6 percent.

- IANS