Foreigners, 'Buy' for 2 Consecutive Weeks... KOSDAQ Continues 'Sell'

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Foreign investors showed a 'buying' trend in the domestic stock market for two consecutive weeks. However, they continued selling in the KOSDAQ market.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 26th, foreign investors net purchased about 239.6 billion KRW in the domestic stock market during the week from the 20th to the 24th. They bought 257.4 billion KRW in the KOSPI market but sold 17.4 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market.

The stock most purchased by foreign investors last week was Samsung Electronics. Foreign investors net bought Samsung Electronics for 360.9 billion KRW last week, marking the third consecutive week as the top purchase. Next, they bought POSCO for 79.4 billion KRW. Other net purchases included LG Electronics (72.4 billion KRW), LG Chem (54.3 billion KRW), Samsung Electronics Preferred (52.9 billion KRW), Bukwang Pharmaceutical (44.8 billion KRW), Hana Financial Group (44.0 billion KRW), Amorepacific (38.2 billion KRW), Alteogen (31.7 billion KRW), and Hite Jinro (30.6 billion KRW).

The stock most sold by foreign investors last week was NCSoft. Foreign investors net sold NCSoft for 131.0 billion KRW last week. Following that, they sold Kakao for 128.3 billion KRW. Other top net sales included Hyundai Mobis (78.2 billion KRW), SK Telecom (68.3 billion KRW), Korea Electric Power Corporation (61.7 billion KRW), Hyundai Motor (31.5 billion KRW), Samsung SDI (26.9 billion KRW), Celltrion Healthcare (22.6 billion KRW), KT&G (21.0 billion KRW), and Macquarie Infrastructure (18.1 billion KRW).

There is an analysis that the weak dollar is expected to attract foreign buying. Samsung Securities researcher Seo Jeonghoon said, "Traditionally, a decline in the dollar's value has been a boon to emerging markets by strengthening the global reflation trend," adding, "In the domestic market, the effect of the weak dollar is currently manifesting through the recent easing of foreign selling and the rebound of cyclical stocks." Seo also noted, "Although it is difficult to expect a robust inflow of funds due to the still unclear degree of economic recovery, considering the base effect from the massive outflows so far, the impact on emerging market stocks will not be insignificant," and added, "Especially if passive fund inflows into emerging market stocks become visible, the top market capitalization stocks in the domestic market could also be primary beneficiaries."