Foreign investors turned into net buyers of local stocks after five months in October as the much-awaited rate hike in the U.S. was postponed again, the financial watchdog said Tuesday.

Offshore investors purchased a net 584 billion won ($497.9 million) worth of local stocks last month, shifting from 1.8 trillion won in net sell-offs in the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

They had held on to the net-seller position since June on rising concerns about a potential monetary policy change by the U.S. Federal Reserve before the end of the year.

But they made a comeback on the local stock market in October as the Fed held the key rate unchanged at its September meeting.

The total value of their shareholdings came to 441.8 trillion won as of the end of October, accounting for 29.3 percent of the total market capitalization, up from 28.6 percent a month ago.

Singaporean investors led the net purchase, scooping up a net 1.1 trillion won last month, followed by investors from Switzerland and Ireland with a net 436.7 billion won and 338.6 billion won, respectively.

On the local bond market, foreign investors also changed their stances to net buyers after five months to rack up a net 110 billion won in October.

Their bond ownership stood at 101.9 trillion won as of end-October, accounting for 6.6 percent of the total value, according to the FSS. (Yonhap)