The foreign ownership ratio of local stocks inched down this year, especially in the large-capital sector, data showed Monday.

Foreigners held 466.2 trillion won ($430 billion) worth of shares in the benchmark KOSPI and over-the-counter KOSDAQ market as of last Thursday, according to the data from the nation’s stock operator Korea Exchange.

This accounted for 30.89 percent of the total market, down 0.7 percentage points from the end of last year. But the actual amount increased by 44 trillion won during the same period.

The drop in the ratio was largely due to the fall in foreigners’ holdings of the top 100 large-capital stocks, according to the data.

Overseas traders, however, increased their share in small and mid-sized caps in the KOSPI, as well as in the technology-heavy start-ups listed on the KOSDAQ.

They also expanded their stake in chemical stocks to 30.1 percent, up 3.7 percent during the same period. Their stake in machinery stocks fell 6.3 percentage points to 31.2 percent.

Reflecting the uptrend led by foreign buying, the nation’s benchmark KOSPI broke the record-high 2,100 points last Tuesday for the first time in almost four years. KOSDAQ, too, exceeded the 700-point line on Friday.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)