Corporate direct financing in South Korea fell 49 percent in October from the previous month as rate hikes weighed on corporate activities, data showed Thursday.

Local companies raised a combined 8.79 trillion won ($6.51 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, sharply down from 17.2 trillion won a month earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

Direct financing refers to raising funds directly from the stock and bond markets without borrowing from banks or other financial institutions.

Corporate bond sales, largely issued for operational expenses, rose 21.7 percent on-month to 1.39 trillion won in October.

But bank debenture and asset-backed securities, primarily issued for renewing debt, dropped. Bank debenture nose-dived 54.7 percent on-month to 6 trillion won, and the issuance of ABS plunged 55.9 percent on-month to 911.2 billion won, FSS data showed.

The fall in direct financing is attributed to the fast-rising borrowing costs.

South Korea's central bank has hiked its policy rate eight times by a combined 2.5 percentage point since August last year to bring inflation under control.

Meanwhile, funds raised through stock markets decreased 36.1 percent to 487.5 billion won over the cited period as the sluggish financial market curbed initial public offerings and paid-in capital increases. (Yonhap)