South Africa sees foreign stock selling as investors opt for bonds

Foreign investors sold off South African equities at the fastest pace in more than a year in the fourth quarter of 2024, as they piled into the nation’s bonds, leading to smaller portfolio inflows.

Portfolio inflows fell 26% to R33.4 billion ($1.8 billion) in the quarter, compared with the prior three months, the South African Reserve Bank said in its Quarterly Bulletin published on Thursday.

Non-residents sold as much as R19.7 billion of South Africa domestic stocks traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, reversing a purchase of 4.1 billion in the third quarter.

The last time there was a selloff of that magnitude was in the third quarter of 2023, the central bank said in response to Bloomberg questions. That was in contrast with foreigners acquiring debt securities amounting to R53.1 billion, compared to R41.4 billion in the prior quarter.

The net sales of domestic shares by non-residents was dominated