Foreign investors’ net purchases of South Korean stocks nearly doubled in 2014 from the previous year thanks to ample liquidity in the United States and other major economies, data showed Sunday.

Offshore investors bought a net 8.21 trillion won ($7.47 billion) worth of local stocks in the first 11 months of this year, 1.7 times the 4.72 trillion won recorded for the whole of 2013, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service.

It marks the third consecutive year that foreigners have recorded net buying of South Korean stocks.

In the January-November period, U.S. investors chalked up net purchases worth 4.49 trillion won, the largest among offshore investors. Chinese investors trailed with some 3 trillion won.

During the 11-month period, foreign investors bought a net 5.28 trillion won worth of South Korean bonds, according to the data.

Among foreign investors, Chinese recorded the largest net buying of local bonds with 1.18 trillion won, trailed by Japanese with 745 billion won.

As of end-November, foreigners held 100.48 trillion won worth of local bonds, up 6.1 percent from the end of last year. (Yonhap)