Foreigners' net selling of 2.4 trillion won... KOSPI drops 1.6%

Samsung Electronics down 2.2%, Samsung SDI down 3%
"Foreign net selling due to MSCI regular review"

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] The KOSPI slipped below the 2600 level due to net selling by foreigners.

On the 30th, the KOSPI closed at 2591.34, down 1.6% (42.11 points) from the previous day. The index opened at 2648.05, up 0.55% (14.6 points) from the previous trading day, but the net selling pressure from foreigners and institutions continued, widening the decline.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Looking at investor trends, foreigners alone sold about 2.4 trillion won worth of stocks in the domestic stock market. On the other hand, individuals purchased stocks worth 2.196 trillion won. Institutions, which showed net selling from the beginning of the session, turned to net buying by purchasing stocks worth 202.2 billion won near the end of the session.

Most of the top market capitalization stocks fell. Samsung Electronics recorded 66,700 won, down 2.20% from the previous session. Other stocks such as SK Hynix (-1.32%), LG Chem (-1.23%), Samsung Biologics (-1.63%), NAVER (-2.46%), and Samsung SDI (-3.27%) also declined.

The KOSDAQ index closed at 886.11, up 0.06% (0.55 points) from the previous day. In the KOSDAQ market, individuals alone bought stocks worth 210.4 billion won. Meanwhile, foreigners and institutions sold stocks worth 56.9 billion won and 122.9 billion won, respectively.

In the KOSDAQ market, Celltrion Healthcare recorded 122,100 won, up 4.18% from the previous day. Celltrion Pharm (0.26%), Genexine (2.88%), and KMH (2.51%) also rose.

Researcher Kyungmin Lee of Daishin Securities explained, “The sudden large net selling by foreigners was due to the MSCI regular review, which reduced Korea’s weighting by 0.27 percentage points.” He added, “With Kuwait newly included and India’s weighting increased, the passive volume that could be released from the domestic market is expected to be between 1 trillion and 2 trillion won.”

Researcher Lee continued, “Since the US futures index is falling and foreigners sold stocks in the Taiwan market last weekend, it is difficult to say this selling is a one-time event. Major economic indicators to be announced at the end and beginning of the month will influence foreign investors’ sentiment.”