Foreigners Sell 6 Trillion Won in 3 Days... KOSPI Retreats to 3120 Level

KOSDAQ Also Closes Down 1.6%

On the afternoon of the 13th, employees are working in the dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] The KOSPI fell more than 1%, retreating to the 3120 level. This is attributed to foreign investors dumping stocks worth trillions of won for the third consecutive trading day.

On the 13th, the KOSPI closed at 3122.11, down 39.55 points (1.25%) from the previous day. After a slightly weak start, it dropped to 3103.88 early in the session, then recovered to 3161.93 around noon, but soon gave up the gains and fell back.

The historic selling spree by foreign investors pulled the index down. Foreigners net sold stocks worth 1.4293 trillion won in the KOSPI market in a single day. Following 2.022 trillion won on the 11th and 2.7005 trillion won on the 12th, they sold over 6 trillion won for three consecutive trading days. Individuals and institutions net bought 1.4385 trillion won and 68 billion won, respectively.

Most sectors declined. The steel and metal sector had the largest drop at -4.39%. This was followed by precision medical (-2.77%), machinery (-2.77%), transportation and warehousing (-2.38%), and securities (-2.31%). Banks (3.90%) and insurance (3.38%) rose.

Most of the top 10 market capitalization stocks also fell. Samsung SDI had the largest decline at -4.90%. Next were POSCO (-3.88%), Kakao (-3.10%), Samsung Electronics (-1.88%), SK Hynix (-1.67%), NAVER (-1.60%), and LG Chem (-1.51%). Only Samsung Biologics (1.17%), Celltrion (0.95%), and Hyundai Motor (0.88%) rose.

The KOSDAQ showed a similar trend. It closed at 951.77, down 15.33 points (1.59%) from the previous day. Early in the session, it dropped about 2% to 948.04, then recovered to 965.27 around noon, but slipped back to the 950s.

In the KOSDAQ market, only individuals showed net buying, purchasing stocks worth 136.4 billion won. In contrast, foreigners and institutions net sold 31.2 billion won and 112.4 billion won, respectively.

Except for the transportation sector, which rose 0.72%, all sectors declined. The metal and non-metal sectors both fell by -3.62%, showing the largest drops. This was followed by finance (-3.35%), construction (-2.63%), and general electric and electronics (-2.58%).

Among the top 10 market capitalization stocks, all fell except Pearl Abyss (1.57%). EcoPro BM had the largest decline at -5.56%, followed by Alteogen (-3.92%), Studio Dragon (-2.52%), CJ ENM (-2.35%), Kakao Games (-2.06%), HLB (-1.56%), Celltrion Pharm (-1.00%), SK Materials (-0.82%), and Celltrion Healthcare (-0.36%).