Foreign investors continued their sell-off in South Korean stocks for a seventh consecutive month in July, driven largely by profit-taking activities, according to data released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Friday.

The data revealed that overseas investors offloaded a net 31.66 trillion Korean won (approximately $22.7 billion) in local equities last month, marking a sustained selling trend but reflecting a moderation from June's record-high net selling of 49.34 trillion won.

Following July's net disposals, foreign holdings of South Korean stocks stood at 2,255.5 trillion won, representing 35.8% of the total market capitalization of the country's equity market.

By country breakdown, UK-based investors emerged as the largest sellers in July, disposing of a net 20.2 trillion won, followed by their Singaporean counterparts, who offloaded a net 3.8 trillion won.

In contrast, the foreign investment activity in the bond market showed a different trend last month, with international investors making net purchases of 4.76 trillion won in South Korean bonds.

As of the end of July, the FSS reported that foreign investors' total bond holdings amounted to 336.1 trillion won, accounting for 11.7% of all locally listed bonds.