South Koreans' transactions of foreign stocks fell sharply in the first half of the year from six months earlier on bearish overseas equity markets, with their bond trading edging up, data showed Monday.

Local investors' transactions of overseas shares were valued at $167.99 billion in the January-June period, down 12 percent from the second half of 2021, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).

The figure covers overseas stock purchases and sales made through the depository institution.

The value of US stocks traded by South Korean investors accounted for 94.9 percent of the total.

US electric vehicle titan Tesla Motors Inc. was South Korean investors' top pick at $21.41 billion, which was 31.1 percent more than six months earlier.

The data also showed South Korean investors' trading of foreign bonds gaining 3.1 percent on-quarter to $39.97 billion, with the value of their overseas securities transactions thus declining 9.4 percent to $207.96 billion.

The United States and four other leading markets -- the European Union, Hong Kong, China and Japan -- took up 99.5 percent of the aggregate, with American securities alone accounting for 81 percent.

Meanwhile, the value of overseas securities deposited with the agency came to $83.53 billion as of end-June, down 17 percent from the previous half-year period.

The KSD said South Korean investors in overseas securities are currently faced with such risks as the post-coronavirus situation, the war in Ukraine and US interest rate hikes. (Yonhap)