Foreigners Net Sold Over 2 Trillion Won... Which Stocks Were Sold More Than the 'Kakao 3 Brothers'?

On the 8th, the KOSPI index opened at 2,633.53, up 7.19 points (0.27%), as dealers were busy working in the Hana Bank dealing room in Euljiro, Seoul. The won-dollar exchange rate started at 1,255.0 won, down 2.7 won. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Foreign investors sold off more than 2 trillion won worth of domestic stocks over four trading days last week. Foreign capital, which showed a brief buying advantage due to the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index rebalancing effect on the last day of last month, switched to net selling within a week.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 12th, foreign investors net sold about 2.3691 trillion won in the domestic stock market over four trading days from the 7th to the 10th. They net sold more than 2 trillion won in the KOSPI market and also recorded a net sale of 246.8 billion won in the KOSDAQ market.

During this period, institutions also net sold about 723 billion won, while individuals net bought nearly 3 trillion won (2.9856 trillion won).

The stock most purchased by foreigners was SK Innovation, with net buying worth 168.3 billion won. This was followed by LG Innotek (60 billion won), KT&G (44.1 billion won), Korea Aerospace Industries (42.6 billion won), and SK Hynix (39.5 billion won).

On the other hand, Samsung Electronics was disposed of by foreigners with about 1.4855 trillion won, making it the top stock in foreign net sales. Other net sold stocks included KakaoBank (-226.4 billion won), KakaoPay (-191.2 billion won), Kakao (-91.9 billion won), and Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-68.2 billion won).

Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "The sharp decline in the US stock market over the weekend, following the consumer price index announcement and weakening expectations of inflation easing, is a burden on the Korean stock market," adding, "Due to the persistence of high inflation, the possibility of a slowdown in US consumption has increased, bringing in the 'economic recession' issue, which can act as a negative factor for foreign demand."