Foreigners Turn Net Buyers in 3 Weeks... Samsung Electronics Most Purchased

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Foreign investors have turned to 'buying' after three weeks.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 9th, foreign investors net purchased about 902 billion KRW in the domestic stock market during the week from the 3rd to the 7th. They bought 819.1 billion KRW in the KOSPI market and 82.9 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market, respectively.

The stock most purchased by foreign investors last week was Samsung Electronics. After selling Samsung Electronics the most for two consecutive weeks, foreign investors switched to net buying last week, purchasing 445.8 billion KRW worth of Samsung Electronics, marking a turnaround after three weeks. Next, they bought LG Chem for 215.3 billion KRW. Other net purchases included SK Hynix (73.1 billion KRW), Samsung Biologics (65.6 billion KRW), NCSoft (47.8 billion KRW), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (43.7 billion KRW), Samsung SDI (42.7 billion KRW), Hyundai Motor (42.3 billion KRW), Celltrion (36.8 billion KRW), and LG Household & Health Care (30.6 billion KRW).

The stock most sold by foreign investors last week was SK Innovation. Foreign investors net sold SK Innovation for 83 billion KRW last week. Following that, they sold NAVER for 58.4 billion KRW. Other top net sales by foreign investors included Samsung Electronics Preferred (48.9 billion KRW), Amorepacific (48.2 billion KRW), Korea Electric Power Corporation (39.5 billion KRW), Korea Zinc (23.9 billion KRW), SK (22.9 billion KRW), S-Oil (22.8 billion KRW), Shinhan Financial Group (22.8 billion KRW), and Samsung Engineering (22.5 billion KRW).

The stock market is expected to continue its upward trend. Kim Byung-yeon, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, "The index recorded a V-shaped rebound and approached the 2240-point level, which was the index level before concerns about the novel coronavirus (Wuhan pneumonia)." He added, "The focus is likely to shift from the spread of the novel coronavirus to its containment, and with the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) still injecting liquidity, combined with improvements in U.S. manufacturing and expectations for China's stimulus measures, there may be a short-term pause following the V-shaped rebound, but the upward trend will continue." Researcher Kim also added, "By sector, the leadership of Tech, Media, and Telecommunication (T.M.T) will continue, while news such as expectations for China's infrastructure investment and partial removal of tariffs on U.S. imports will lead to some normalization of valuations in materials and industrials."