Foreign investors are expanding their presence on the country’s secondary Kosdaq market with their ownership reaching over a five-year high, data showed Monday.

According to the data compiled by the Korea Exchange, foreigners held 12.59 trillion won ($11.8 billion) worth of stocks traded on the tech-laden Kosdaq market as of Friday, accounting for 10.16 percent of the total market capitalization, the highest since August 2007.

The latest figure compares with 8.27 percent a year ago and also marks a 0.29 percentage point rise from the end of last year, the data showed.

Foreign investors bought a net 205 billion won on the Kosdaq market this year through Friday, while they unloaded some 500 billion won net on the main bourse.

The foreign ownership on the Kosdaq market has hovered above the 10 percent level before 2008 when Naver Corp., formerly NHN Corp., was moved to the main bourse.

“Foreign investors’ appetites for small caps might have risen due to earnings concerns over top market cap shares,” said Rhy Seung-min, an analyst at Samsung Securities. (Yonhap News)