Foreign investors have purchased more South Korean stocks than they have sold so far this month, possibly on the way to ending their four-month selling streak, data showed Sunday.

As of Friday, foreign investors have purchased a net 113.9 billion won ($98 million) worth of local shares since Dec. 2, according to the data from Seoul bourse operator Korea Exchange.

Their shift toward a buying mode apparently comes amid a heightened hope for a long awaited deal between the US and China that, if signed, would help ease the prolonged trade dispute between the world's two largest economies that are also the largest importers of South Korean products.

Foreigners have remained net sellers since August when they dumped $1.95 billion worth of local shares.

In the August-November period, they offloaded a total of $5.16 billion.

The selling spree has been partly attributed to a slump in corporate earnings, apparently caused by a steady decline in outbound shipments, and a rebalancing of asset portfolio in the wake of a change in a global stock index.

South Korea's exports have dipped for 12 consecutive months since December 2018.

In November alone, foreign investors offloaded $2.44 billion worth of local shares.

They also remained net sellers for 21 consecutive sessions from Nov. 7 through Dec. 5, the longest selling streak since January 2013. (Yonhap)