July's Overwhelming No.1 in Individual Net Buying
Foreigners Sold Over 700 Billion Won During the Same Period... Analysis of the 'Donghak Ant Movement' Revival
The SK Biopharm KOSPI listing ceremony is being held on the 2nd at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Mo Honam munonam@
[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Individual investors have purchased stocks worth 580 billion KRW over five trading days following the listing of SK Biopharm. The stock recorded the so-called 'ttasang' (opening price formed at twice the IPO price, followed by the upper price limit) for the first time in the KOSPI market, fueling strong investment enthusiasm among individuals. On the other hand, foreigners net sold more than 700 billion KRW during the same period, leading to evaluations that the 'Donghak Ant Movement'?which saw a clash between individual buying and foreign selling in March?has been reenacted.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 9th, individual investors net bought SK Biopharm shares worth 580.7 billion KRW from the company's listing on the 2nd until the previous day. This amounts to nearly 600 billion KRW purchased in just five trading days. This is the largest net buying volume by individuals across both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets during this period. It is more than double the 230.9 billion KRW net buying volume of SK Hynix, which ranks second.
In contrast, foreigners appear to be engaging in large-scale profit-taking sales. Over five trading days this month, foreigners net sold SK Biopharm shares worth 726.4 billion KRW. SK Biopharm ranks first in foreign net selling this month. It was sold more than three times the amount of Celltrion Healthcare, which ranks second with 239.3 billion KRW. This is a significant scale compared to the past. The top foreign net sold stock last month was Naver, with 350.6 billion KRW. In May, the highest record was Samsung Electronics with 496.6 billion KRW sold.
With large-scale turnover, SK Biopharm also ranked first in trading value for three consecutive trading days this week. On the 6th and 7th, trading values were 1.507 trillion KRW and 2.3569 trillion KRW respectively, followed by 1.2395 trillion KRW the previous day, totaling 5.118 trillion KRW over three trading days. This was about 34% higher than Samsung Electronics' trading value (3.8058 trillion KRW), which held the top spot in trading value during the same period. This is why there are reactions that the 'Donghak Ant Movement'?which saw individual buying and foreign selling clashing during the historic crash and recovery in March?is being reenacted.
SK Biopharm's stock price closed at 217,000 KRW, up 500 KRW (0.23%) from the previous session. Although it fell more than 8% to 198,000 KRW early in the session due to profit-taking sales, it recovered to a slightly positive level in the afternoon, supported by individual buying. Based on the previous day's closing price, the market capitalization was 16.994 trillion KRW, ranking third within the SK Group after SK (17.766 trillion KRW) and SK Telecom (17.6429 trillion KRW), and 16th in the KOSPI market (excluding preferred shares).
As investment enthusiasm for SK Biopharm heats up, concerns about investor damage are also emerging. Researcher Taegi Ha from Sangsangin Securities pointed out, "Before SK Biopharm's listing, the market consensus for market capitalization was 5 to 6 trillion KRW, and even considering the IPO premium, it was expected to be 7 to 8 trillion KRW, but the actual market capitalization greatly exceeded this. Considering that Belgium's UCB, which had sales of 4.9 billion euros (about 6.6258 trillion KRW) and operating profit of 1.4 billion euros last year, has a market capitalization of around 20 billion dollars (about 23.86 trillion KRW), SK Biopharm's stock price well reflects the overheating phenomenon in the biotech sector in the stock market," he said.
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