The average daily turnover of the South Korean stock market reached a three-year high in the first quarter of the year on the back of a bullish run driven by strong foreign buying, data showed Thursday.

According to the data by the Korea Exchange, the daily turnover of the country's main bourse averaged 4.7 trillion won ($4.28 billion) in the January-March period, the highest level since the first quarter of 2012, when the comparable figure was 5.9 trillion won.

The average daily turnover of the main market stood at 4.4 trillion won, 4.5 trillion won and 5.1 trillion won, respectively in January, February and March, they showed.

The bourse operator attributed the surge in the average daily turnover to strong buying by offshore investors. "Global easing policies, especially from China and Europe, boosted investor sentiment," said the KRX.

Foreign investors scooped up local shares worth a net 3.2 trillion won in the first quarter, while institutional and retail investors each sold a net 3 trillion won and 1.4 trillion won.

The bourse operator also said retail investors accounted for 50.5 percent of market transactions in the first quarter, exceeding the 50-percent threshold for the first time in 10 quarters, the data showed.

Driven by a rally in market heavyweights, the country's key stock index, the KOSPI, gained 6.6 percent in the first quarter to end at 2,041.03 points on March 31, the largest rally since the third quarter of 2013. (Yonhap)