사진 확대

The Bank of Korea has invested more than 350 billion won in gold exchange-traded funds (ETF).

The Bank of Korea announced on the 13th that it held 679,765 shares of SPDR GOLD TR, a gold ETF listed on the local stock market, through a public announcement by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. At the end of the second quarter, the valuation is $250.41 million (about 355 billion won). It did not mention the specific timing of the purchase, but did not hold it at the end of the first quarter. It is the first time in 13 years that the Bank of Korea has invested in gold since it purchased 20 tons of real gold in 2013.

The Bank of Korea's foreign capital management agency also announced earlier that it would purchase domestic export gold. Amid growing geopolitical risks in recent years, overseas central banks are believed to have joined the trend of investing in gold, a safe asset.

Meanwhile, according to the "International Financial and Foreign Exchange Market Trends Since July" released by the Bank of Korea, foreign investors' investment in domestic securities leaked a net $21.65 billion last month. The outflow was $9.07 billion lower than $30.72 billion in June. Stock funds that continued net outflows for seven consecutive months were net outflows of $20.7 billion. Stock funds have been net outflowed due to increased tensions in the Middle East and global artificial intelligence (AI) investment vigilance, but the outflow has been reduced due to easing the rebalancing sell-off caused by domestic stock price adjustments.

Bond funds were withdrawn by $960 million. The won rose 125.4 won to 1,424 won at the end of last month from 1549.4 won at the end of June. The weak expectations of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate hike due to sluggish U.S. employment indicators have affected it. In the international financial market, good investor sentiment continued on the back of strong corporate earnings despite the rising tensions in the Middle East and rising interest rates.