Foreigners Hold 'Lion' for 4 Consecutive Weeks... Samsung Electronics Most Bought for 7 Consecutive Weeks

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Foreign investors have shown buying momentum in the domestic stock market for four consecutive weeks.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 9th, foreign investors net purchased about 1.055 trillion KRW in the domestic stock market during the week from the 3rd to the 7th. Foreign investors bought 1.8043 trillion KRW in the KOSPI market but sold 749.3 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market.

The stock most purchased by foreign investors last week was Samsung Electronics. Foreign investors net bought Samsung Electronics for 716.1 billion KRW last week, marking the seventh consecutive week of being the top buyer of Samsung Electronics. This was followed by Hyundai Glovis with purchases worth 607 billion KRW. Other net purchases included LG Chem (490 billion KRW), SK Hynix (312.2 billion KRW), Kia (150.8 billion KRW), POSCO (99.7 billion KRW), LG Display (68.5 billion KRW), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (63.6 billion KRW), Hyundai Motor (60.4 billion KRW), and Wemade (53.4 billion KRW).

The stock most sold by foreign investors last week was Kakao. Foreign investors net sold Kakao for 439.9 billion KRW last week. This was followed by Naver with net sales of 299.2 billion KRW. Other top net sales by foreign investors included L&F (96.3 billion KRW), Kakao Bank (85.4 billion KRW), Kakao Games (72.8 billion KRW), Krafton (64.3 billion KRW), NCSoft (53.1 billion KRW), Dongjin Semichem (50.2 billion KRW), Samsung Biologics (45.6 billion KRW), and SM Entertainment (37.1 billion KRW).

In a situation where domestic and external negative factors are concentrated at the beginning of the year, it is analyzed that the overreaction of stock prices could become a buying opportunity. Kim Younghwan, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, "If you think calmly, issues such as the spread of COVID-19 and supply-demand issues (dividend arbitrage, supply-demand dispersion ahead of large IPOs) will naturally calm down over time." He added, "Ultimately, what remains is the concern over tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and the resulting rise in interest rates, which requires an economic upturn to be sustainable. If interest rates rise sharply and stock prices overreact, it is more appropriate to take this as a buying opportunity." Researcher Kim also said, "To reduce risk, it is necessary to select sectors that can overcome the burden of discount rates and respond accordingly. The stock market at the beginning of the year is expected to be more favorable to large-cap cyclical stocks rather than growth stocks."