Foreigners Buy 'Saja' in Just One Week... Continued Purchase of Battery Stocks

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Foreign investors have turned to net buying in the domestic stock market after a week. They continued their buying spree in battery stocks such as LG Chem and Samsung SDI.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 8th, foreign investors net purchased about 2.125 trillion KRW in the domestic stock market during the week from the 2nd to the 6th. They bought 1.9856 trillion KRW in the KOSPI market and 139.3 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market, respectively.

The stock most purchased by foreign investors last week was LG Chem. Foreign investors net bought LG Chem worth 714.4 billion KRW last week. This was followed by Samsung Electronics, which they bought for 242.6 billion KRW. Other net purchases included Samsung SDI (235.6 billion KRW), Kakao (170.6 billion KRW), Naver (NAVER·103.7 billion KRW), Samsung Electronics Preferred (84.1 billion KRW), SK Hynix (83.6 billion KRW), SK Chemicals (67.2 billion KRW), Samsung Biologics (56.5 billion KRW), and Samsung Electro-Mechanics (43.9 billion KRW).

The stock most sold by foreign investors last week was Hyundai Motor. Foreign investors net sold Hyundai Motor worth 59.3 billion KRW last week. This was followed by Kia Motors, which they sold for 49.5 billion KRW. Other top net sales by foreign investors included Kumho Petrochemical (42.8 billion KRW), Lotte Chemical (40.1 billion KRW), Genexine (35.3 billion KRW), SK Telecom (34.5 billion KRW), Korea Electric Power Corporation (27.4 billion KRW), Netmarble (26.9 billion KRW), Samsung Engineering (25.0 billion KRW), and Ace Technology (20.7 billion KRW).

There is an analysis that foreign investors' net buying is expected to strengthen due to the won's appreciation. Samsung Securities researcher Seo Jeonghoon said, "The severe wait-and-see stance observed throughout October is now shifting to an active buying stance," adding, "It is notable that the previously lukewarm movements of foreign investors are gaining momentum." Researcher Seo added, "Given the conditions that could further strengthen foreign investors' buying power, such as the won's appreciation, attention should be paid to large-cap cyclical value stocks preferred by them."