S. Koreans favored Tesla, Apple, AMC among foreign stocks in H1

South Koreans bought mostly Tesla, Apple, and AMC Entertainment among foreign stocks in the first half of the year.

Tesla drew $9.6 billion orders from South Korean investors from January to June, topping the list of actively traded foreign stocks.

Stocks of the US electric vehicle maker worth $7.9 billion were sold to South Korean traders over the period.

As of end-June, Tesla stocks closed at $679.70 each, plummeting nearly 7 percent over the six months.

Apple posted the second-most sales from South Koreans at $3.2 billion in the first half.

Other top purchases by South Koreans were Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X, theater chain AMC Entertainment, and Churchill Capital IV, a special purpose acquisition company that would merge with electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors.

All top five securities are listed in the US.

South Korean investors bought $103.4 billion of US-listed stocks, accounting for more than 93 percent of the total. The US was followed by Hong Kong, China, and Japan.

The non-US listed stock most bought by South Koreans was Z Holdings, a joint venture of Yahoo and Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed SoftBank.

South Korean investors ordered foreign stocks worth $110.8 billion in the first half, with sales of $96.9 billion, according to data by the Korea Securities Depository.

The size of orders increased rose threefold from the previous year.