(123rf)

Foreign investors remained net sellers of South Korean stocks in February amid growing jitters over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, data showed Monday.

Foreigners offloaded a net 2.58 trillion won ($2.09 billion) worth of local stocks last month, marking the second straight month of net selling, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

Offshore investors' net selling stood at 1.68 trillion won in January.

Investors have been disheartened by Russia's invasion of Ukraine that began in late February, which analysts worry could send already high crude oil and commodity prices even higher.

European and US investors sold a net 1.4 trillion won and 700 billion won worth of South Korean stocks in February, respectively.

Investors from the Middle East posted net buying of 300 billion won, with Asian investors' net purchases reaching 200 billion won.

As of end-February, foreigners held 724.9 trillion won worth of listed South Korean stocks, up 2.5 trillion won from a month earlier and accounting for 28 percent of the total market capitalization.

American investors held 293.2 trillion won, taking up 40.4 percent of total foreign stock holdings.

The data also showed foreigners continuing their net money injection into the local bond market, with their net buying amounting to 3.95 trillion won.

Foreign investors' holdings of South Korean bonds came to an all-time high of 221.9 trillion won at the end of last month, up 4.2 trillion won from the previous month, with Asian investors owning 46 percent of the total. (Yonhap)