Foreigners Switch Back to 'Saja' in Just One Week... Holding the Most Semiconductors

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Foreign investors have turned to buying in the domestic stock market after a week. They mainly net purchased semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 19th, foreign investors net purchased about 995.6 billion KRW in the domestic stock market during the week from the 13th to the 17th. Foreign investors bought 813.5 billion KRW in the KOSPI market and 182.1 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market, respectively.

The stock most purchased by foreign investors last week was Samsung Electronics. Foreign investors net purchased Samsung Electronics by 803.8 billion KRW last week. This was followed by SK Hynix with a net purchase of 214 billion KRW. In addition, they net purchased L&F (146.2 billion KRW), Kia (114 billion KRW), POSCO (104.6 billion KRW), SK Bioscience (97.5 billion KRW), Krafton (84 billion KRW), Samsung Engineering (71.3 billion KRW), HMM (63 billion KRW), and Hyundai Motor (47.8 billion KRW).

The stock most sold by foreign investors last week was Kakao. Foreign investors net sold Kakao by 349.4 billion KRW last week, marking the second consecutive week of the largest sales. This was followed by Hyundai Heavy Industries, which was sold by 186.5 billion KRW. Other stocks in the top foreign net sales included NAVER (117.2 billion KRW), LG Chem (88.4 billion KRW), LG Electronics (69.3 billion KRW), SK Telecom (67.2 billion KRW), Amorepacific (66.8 billion KRW), LG Innotek (41.7 billion KRW), NCSoft (38.5 billion KRW), and KakaoBank (35.4 billion KRW).

After the Chuseok holiday, the stock market is expected to continue its range-bound movement. Kim Younghwan, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, "It is necessary to pay attention to US-China events that may occur during the holiday period, which could affect the Korean stock market after the holiday." He added, "The biggest immediate concern is the potential risk to the Chinese financial system stemming from Evergrande Group. However, if a correction occurs due to this, it is considered an issue that requires a buying response. We maintain the view that the KOSPI will show fluctuations within a range-bound trend."