South Korean institutions' investments in foreign securities rose to the highest level in five years in the third quarter as stock markets rose globally, the central bank said Thursday.

The value of foreign securities held by institutional investors totaled US$70.47 billion as of end-September, up 5.3 percent from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the largest tally since the third quarter of 2009 when such investments in overseas securities hit $72.1 billion, the central bank said.

Foreign securities are foreign stocks, bonds and so-called Korean paper, foreign-currency-denominated securities issued by the South Korean government, banks or companies in overseas markets.

The BOK said that investment profit sharply rose as share prices in major countries gained ground.

Investments in foreign stocks rose $1.8 billion on-quarter to $31.61 billion while those in overseas bonds gained $420 million to $22.27 billion, it said. (Yonhap News)