Foreigners and Institutions Still Closely Watching Omicron's Impact
Domestic Pharmaceutical and Diagnostic Kit Stocks May Waver if Overseas Competitors Perform Well
[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] As the new COVID-19 variant virus 'Omicron' emerged, individual investors (ant investors) began buying low-priced pharmaceutical and diagnostic kit-related stocks. On the other hand, foreigners and institutions sold these stocks, viewing Omicron's impact as not significant.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 30th, individual investors purchased SK Bioscience stocks worth 36 billion won the previous day, showing the second-largest net buying after SK Square. The buying spree in SK Bioscience was driven by expectations that the Novavax vaccine, which signed a technology transfer and contract manufacturing organization (CMO) agreement last year, might be effective against Omicron. In addition, individual investors flocked to pharmaceutical and diagnostic kit-related stocks. They net bought Celltrion worth 34.9 billion won, Celltrion Healthcare 24.2 billion won, SD Biosensor 13.6 billion won, and Seegene 12.3 billion won.
The reason individual investors are accumulating pharmaceutical and diagnostic kit-related stocks again is interpreted as a learning effect from after COVID-19 last year. If Omicron causes a shock comparable to COVID-19, these pharmaceutical and diagnostic kit-related stocks could soar again. Last year, pharmaceutical and diagnostic kit-related stocks such as Shinpung Pharmaceutical (1612.71%), Seegene (529.69%), and Celltrion Pharmaceutical (511.37%) surged dramatically.
On the other hand, foreigners and institutions sold pharmaceutical and diagnostic kit-related stocks. Foreigners net sold Celltrion worth 35.4 billion won, SK Bioscience 31.9 billion won, and SD Biosensor 14.8 billion won. Institutions also sold Celltrion Healthcare 10.5 billion won, LabGenomics 4.5 billion won, Celltrion 2.2 billion won, and Shinpung Pharmaceutical 2.1 billion won. They judged that it is still difficult to consider Omicron as a threat.
Researcher Kim Jeong-hyun of Kyobo Securities explained, "It is too early to conclude whether Omicron is threatening to humanity," adding, "Since Scott Gottlieb, former chairman of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), expressed the opinion that Omicron's transmissibility does not neutralize the efficacy of existing vaccines, excessive concerns about the current quarantine system should be avoided."
There are also concerns that the stock prices of pharmaceutical and diagnostic kit-related stocks could be significantly shaken by the strong performance of overseas competitors. On the 5th (local time), as soon as news came out that Pfizer verified the efficacy of its oral COVID-19 treatment Molnupiravir, stocks such as Shinpung Pharmaceutical (-7.10%), JinMatrix (-6.32%), and Celltrion Healthcare (-6.12%) fell together on the 8th. Pfizer is already expected to determine the efficacy of its vaccine against the Omicron variant within two weeks, and Moderna has announced that it may release an Omicron-specific vaccine early next year.
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