Foreign investors continued their net buying of South Korean stocks in November, with the amount reaching nearly 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion), the financial regulator said Monday.

Offshore investors bought a net 1.86 trillion won last month, marking the second consecutive month of net buying, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

Net purchases by investors from the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Norway reached 1 trillion won, 900 billion won and 500 billion won, respectively.

In contrast, investors from Malta sold a net 400 billion won and the comparable amount was 300 billion won for those from the Cayman Islands.

As of the end of November, foreign investors held 634.9 trillion won worth of listed South Korean stocks, accounting for 33.1 percent of the total market capitalization.

American investors owned the largest amount of 264.6 trillion won worth of local shares, or 41.7 percent of total foreign ownership.

European investors came next with holdings of 178.7 trillion won, followed by those from Asia with 77.8 trillion won and Investors from the Middle East with 27.1 trillion won.

Meanwhile, foreign investors net sold 1.56 trillion won worth of listed South Korean bonds last month, with their bond holdings reaching 99.6 trillion won. (Yonhap)