(Photo= Yonhap news)

[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Minyoung] Individual investors have bought nearly 20 trillion won worth of domestic bonds so far this year until last month. This is attributed to expectations of a cut in the benchmark interest rate, prompting investors to increase their bond holdings instead of stocks.

According to the Financial Investment Association's "May Trends in the Over-the-Counter Bond Market" released on the 11th, individual investors have net purchased 19.4896 trillion won worth of domestic bonds from the beginning of the year until May. This represents a 21.9% increase compared to the same period last year (15.9821 trillion won), with a net purchase of 3.5117 trillion won in bonds in just last month.

Individual investors have been net buyers of government bonds (6.2405 trillion won), treasury bonds (4.7152 trillion won), corporate bonds (4.3866 trillion won), and bank bonds (1.9049 trillion won) during the January to May period.

Bond yields declined last month. The U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee kept rates unchanged as expected, while U.S. employment and inflation indicators fell below expectations. The yield on 10-year government bonds at the end of May fell by 7.8 basis points (1 basis point = 0.01%) from the previous month to 3.578% annually.

 

 

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