Foreign investors offloaded local stocks for a fourth consecutive month in July mainly due to continuing external uncertainties stemming from the debt-mired eurozone, the financial regulator said Friday.

Overseas investors sold off a net 710 billion won ($627.2 million) worth of local equities last month, with their shareholdings reaching 379.9 trillion won as of the end of July, the Financial Supervisory Service said.

Foreign stock ownership inched up to 31.6 percent of the market cap last month from 31.2 percent in June.

Foreigners remained net sellers for four straight months in July, with their net selling reaching 5.21 trillion won in the April-July period, the FSS said.

British and U.S. investors were the biggest sellers for a fifth month, disposing of shares worth a net 542.5 billion won and a net 114 billion won, respectively.

Investors from Singapore and Luxembourg, who scooped up a large bulk of local shares in June, shifted to a combined net selling of nearly 300 billion won last month, adding to the overall July sell off, the FSS said.

In contrast, Saudi Arabian and Norwegian investors continued to buy South Korean equities for at least the fifth straight month.

Meanwhile, foreign ownership of local bonds hit an all-time high of 89.6 trillion won last month, up 1.3 trillion won from the previous month, on increasing investor appetite for safer assets, the regulator said.

Foreigners bought a net 1.38 trillion won worth of bonds in July with Norwegians investing a net 1.48 trillion won, followed by the Chinese with a net 446.6 billion won, according to the FSS. (Yonhap News)