South Korea’s latest economic stimulus measures -- known as the “Korean New Deal” -- will likely attract foreign investors to the local stock market, local brokerages said Friday.

“Offshore investors have been posting a net sell-off in the local stock market since March. However, they have recently begun purchasing stocks in the software sector,” said Ha In-hwan, an analyst at Meritz Securities.

By focusing on accelerating the digitalization of the nation’s industries, he added, the Korean New Deal can be expected to revitalize the novel coronavirus-hit economy and nurture emerging technologies including the nation’s forte, the software industry.

Software sector shares marked a 2.5 percent rise, following the government’s announcement Thursday outlining its overall policy direction.

“(Through the latest policy move), the government reiterated its determination to invigorate the so-called data economy based on 5G technology,” said Lee Na-ye, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities.

“In this context, data platform operators and IT service providers will continue to gain ground.”

Stocks related to construction and equipment, however, largely stayed unchanged as the corresponding sectors were excluded from the latest announcement, in contrast to the country’s previous economic stimulus packages.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)