Foreigners, 5 Consecutive Weeks of 'Palja'... Buying Samsung Electronics and Selling SK Biopharm

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Foreign investors continued their selling streak in the domestic stock market for five consecutive weeks.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 12th, foreign investors net sold approximately 1.6589 trillion KRW in the domestic stock market during the week from the 6th to the 10th. They sold 1.3286 trillion KRW in the KOSPI market and 330.3 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market, respectively.

The stock most purchased by foreign investors last week was Samsung Electronics. Foreign investors net bought Samsung Electronics by 195.5 billion KRW last week. This was followed by SK, which they bought for 69.9 billion KRW. Other net purchases included POSCO (523 billion KRW), LG Electronics (41.7 billion KRW), NHN Korea Cyber Payment (29.6 billion KRW), Shinhan Financial Group (29.4 billion KRW), Netmarble (26.7 billion KRW), Fila Holdings (26.2 billion KRW), SK Chemicals (24.2 billion KRW), and KB Financial Group (22.9 billion KRW).

The stock most sold by foreign investors last week was SK Biopharm. Foreign investors net sold SK Biopharm by 642.7 billion KRW last week. This was followed by Naver (297.1 billion KRW). Other top net sales included Celltrion Healthcare (281.3 billion KRW), NCSoft (145 billion KRW), Samsung Biologics (112.8 billion KRW), SK Hynix (107.2 billion KRW), Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) (83.1 billion KRW), Celltrion (55.5 billion KRW), ST Pharm (49.6 billion KRW), and Kakao (48 billion KRW).

Capital inflow from foreign investors into emerging markets is expected to be possible only in the fourth quarter. Lee Seunghyun, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said, "We expect the timing of capital inflow into all emerging markets to be in early Q4," adding, "The global financial cycle is greatly influenced by U.S. monetary policy, the dollar exchange rate, and global risk appetite. With these variables not changing significantly, it is highly likely that the bottom will be recorded and a rebound will occur by October. As the financial cycle rebounds, capital inflow into emerging markets will begin in earnest during the fourth quarter."