Foreign ownership of shares traded on South Korea's secondary KODSAQ bourse has edged down over the past month as offshore investors seek profits following a recent rally, data showed Sunday.

As of Friday, foreign investors held 10.96 percent of the tech-laden market, down 0.22 percentage point from the end of last December, according to the data compiled by the Korea Exchange.

The KOSDAQ closed up 0.43 percent at 600.81 on Thursday, breaching the 600 mark for the first time in more than six years.

It also settled at 604.13 on Friday, continuing its rally for a fourth straight session.

The presence of overseas investors had seen a steady increase since May 2009, when it fell as low as 6.05 percent due to the global economic crisis.

The figure hit a post-crisis high of 11.36 percent on Dec. 15, 2014. Since then, overseas investors have been offloading KOSDAQ shares to cash in profits with the market index surging more than 14 percent during the period.

"Currently, foreign investors appear to be in profit-taking mode. But this does not mean that they have commenced a full-fledged exit from the market," said Lee Nam-ryong, an analyst at Samsung Securities Co. said, adding large-cap KOSDAQ shares will continue to gain ground through the first quarter. (Yonhap)