Foreigners, 3 Consecutive Weeks of 'Palja'... LG Chem Tops Net Buying for 2 Consecutive Weeks

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

According to the Korea Exchange on the 9th, foreign investors sold a net total of approximately 1.1897 trillion KRW in the domestic stock market during the week from the 3rd to the 7th. This marked the third consecutive week of selling exceeding 1 trillion KRW. They sold 813.4 billion KRW in the KOSPI market and 385.1 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market.

The stock most purchased by foreign investors last week was LG Chem. Foreign investors net bought LG Chem for 210.5 billion KRW, marking the second consecutive week it was the most purchased stock. Following that, they net bought POSCO for 111.5 billion KRW. Other net purchases included SK Innovation (61.2 billion KRW), Hotel Shilla (58.0 billion KRW), Shinhan Financial Group (50.9 billion KRW), KB Financial Group (50.5 billion KRW), Hyundai Glovis (47.7 billion KRW), S-Oil (45.2 billion KRW), Industrial Bank of Korea (31.9 billion KRW), and Amorepacific (31.0 billion KRW).

The stock most sold by foreign investors last week was Samsung Electronics. Foreign investors net sold Samsung Electronics for 440.2 billion KRW. They also sold Kakao for 169.8 billion KRW. Other top net sales included Hyundai Mobis (108.1 billion KRW), LG Display (104.6 billion KRW), Celltrion (104.0 billion KRW), LG Electronics (79.1 billion KRW), Doosan Fuel Cell (62.5 billion KRW), Samsung SDI (60.4 billion KRW), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (47.5 billion KRW), and Kia (38.9 billion KRW).

Corporate earnings and inflationary pressures, along with concerns over tapering (asset purchase reduction), are cited as factors influencing the stock market. Kim Younghwan, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, "Due to recent upward revisions in earnings forecasts, the KOSPI valuation burden has eased to around 13 times," adding, "Under favorable macroeconomic conditions and corporate earnings outlook, we expect the KOSPI to continue its upward trend." He further noted, "The main source of market anxiety is the tapering issue, but since the recent rise in commodity prices partly stems from supply bottlenecks alongside demand recovery, it is unlikely that the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) will publicly discuss tapering in the near future."