Foreigners Switch 'Palja' in Just One Week... Kakao and Kakaobank Sold the Most

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Foreign investors have turned to a selling trend in the domestic stock market after just one week.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 12th, foreign investors net sold approximately 1.4956 trillion KRW in the domestic stock market during the week from the 6th to the 10th. Foreign investors sold 1.3097 trillion KRW in the KOSPI market and 185.8 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market, respectively.

The stock most purchased by foreign investors last week was POSCO. Foreign investors net bought POSCO by 159.5 billion KRW last week. This was followed by EcoPro BM with a net purchase of 117.4 billion KRW. Other net purchases included Kia (113.8 billion KRW), SK Hynix (109.1 billion KRW), Samsung SDI (58.8 billion KRW), SK IE Technology (52.6 billion KRW), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (51.8 billion KRW), Hyosung Advanced Materials (51.4 billion KRW), Hanwha Solutions (48.0 billion KRW), and OCI (47.4 billion KRW).

The stock most sold by foreign investors last week was Kakao. Foreign investors net sold Kakao by 745.7 billion KRW last week. This was followed by KakaoBank with sales of 537.6 billion KRW. Other top net sales included Naver (307.9 billion KRW), Krafton (217.9 billion KRW), NCSoft (147.1 billion KRW), Amorepacific (85.9 billion KRW), LG Electronics (84.8 billion KRW), SK Telecom (74.7 billion KRW), Celltrion (48.7 billion KRW), and Hyundai Mobis (41.0 billion KRW).

There is an opinion that the supply and demand conditions for foreign investors could gradually improve. Kiwoom Securities researcher Kim Seheon stated, "Despite the abundant liquidity environment since the first quarter of last year following the outbreak of COVID-19, foreign investors continuously showed a selling trend mainly due to ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties and the active buying by individual investors." He added, "We expect macroeconomic uncertainties to peak in the third quarter and ease in the fourth quarter, and individual buying pressure to weaken in the fourth quarter after aggressive bargain hunting in the third quarter, which suggests that the supply and demand conditions for foreign investors will gradually improve." Accordingly, the selling trend of foreign investors is expected to have a high possibility of turning around in the fourth quarter. Researcher Kim explained, "This is because after the peak of macroeconomic uncertainties in the third quarter, the easing in the fourth quarter along with a weaker dollar could continue to foster risk asset preference in the financial markets."