Foreigners, 'Palja' for 2 Consecutive Weeks... Selling Samsung Electronics and Buying SK Hynix

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Foreign investors continued their selling streak for the second consecutive week. Last week, foreign investors sold Samsung Electronics the most while buying SK Hynix the most, showing a mixed trend in the semiconductor sector.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 23rd, foreign investors net sold about 579.6 billion KRW in the domestic stock market during the week from the 17th to the 21st. They sold 431 billion KRW in the KOSPI market and 148.3 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market, respectively.

The stock most purchased by foreign investors last week was SK Hynix. Foreign investors net bought SK Hynix by 156.8 billion KRW last week. Following that, they bought Kakao for 89.4 billion KRW. Other net purchases included Samsung Electro-Mechanics (47.5 billion KRW), LG Uplus (44.2 billion KRW), Celltrion Healthcare (36.2 billion KRW), Hyundai Motor (24.9 billion KRW), Celltrion (24.8 billion KRW), Samsung Biologics (24.5 billion KRW), Samsung C&T (21.9 billion KRW), and NCSoft (19.1 billion KRW).

The stock most sold by foreign investors last week was Samsung Electronics. Foreign investors net sold Samsung Electronics by 383.9 billion KRW last week. They also sold Samsung Electronics Preferred shares for 138.5 billion KRW. Other top net sales included Ananti (35.2 billion KRW), Korea Zinc (35.2 billion KRW), Amorepacific (28.9 billion KRW), Hotel Shilla (27.9 billion KRW), POSCO (21.1 billion KRW), SK Telecom (20.5 billion KRW), Seegene (19 billion KRW), and Shinhan Financial Group (18.6 billion KRW).

Amid recent concerns over foreign investor outflows due to the strong dollar, attention is focused on whether foreign investors will continue their selling trend. Kim Daejin, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said, "After examining not only the Dollar Index but also the Bloomberg Dollar Index and Bloomberg-JP Morgan Asia Dollar Index, it is judged that the dollar strength is not progressing rapidly," adding, "While this is somewhat insufficient to completely dispel concerns about foreign capital outflows, there is no need for overinterpretation." Researcher Kim added, "Regarding the KRW-USD exchange rate, there is a possibility it may temporarily exceed 1,200 KRW, but this is not expected to become a trend. Over the next year, the KRW-USD exchange rate is likely to remain within a range around the current level. Based on this outlook, foreign investor flows may experience minor short-term adjustments, but long-term trend net selling volumes are expected to be limited."