The amount of bond transactions in South Korea dropped in January from a month earlier as investors put more money into riskier assets amid signs that the global economy is recovering, data showed Sunday.

According to data provided by the Korea Financial Investment Association and the Korea Exchange, the amount of bond transactions taking place last month came to 470 trillion won ($437.5 billion), down 11 percent from the previous month.

This marked the first time in two years since January 2012 that the bond transaction amount has fallen below 500 trillion won.

The decline is attributable to investors seeking riskier assets than bonds, bolstered by growing signs that the global economy is recovering.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s recent push to roll back its bond-purchasing stimulus program also caused investors to stay alert, experts said.

Of the total, 272 trillion won was invested in state bonds last month, with 107 trillion won and 30 trillion won being spent on currency stabilization bonds and bank bonds, respectively.

A smaller bond investment usually results in more money flowing into riskier assets such as stocks. Last month, a daily average of some 3.9 trillion won worth of stocks changed hands, up 12.9 percent from the previous month’s 3.4 trillion won, the data showed. (Yonhap)