This is the dealers' room at the headquarters of Hana Bank on Aug. 4 in Seoul's Jung-gu District. (Yonhap News)

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

Net foreign buying of domestic stocks in July surpassed KRW 6 trillion, the highest in 17 months.

The Korea Exchange on Aug. 4 said foreign players last month purchased a net KRW 6.28 trillion, the most since KRW 7.858 trillion in February last year and 2.3 times that in June this year.

The top stock for foreign investors was Samsung Electronics with KRW 3.49 trillion, accounting for 55.8% of the total, followed by Hanwha Ocean, known for shipbuilding and the defense industry, with KRW 857.5 billion.

Thanks to such strong purchases, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index aka KOSPI last month jumped 5.7% from 3,071.7 to 3,245.44.

Many domestic news media said the surge in net foreign buying stemmed from stock market stimulation measures by the Lee administration and the signing of a foundry supply contract for semiconductors between Samsung Electronics and Tesla worth KRW 23 trillion.

dusrud21@korea.kr