Foreigners Sell Korea Stocks Worth 5.3 Trillion Won This Month... "Panic Selling Due to Inventory Concerns"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Foreign investors sold off more than 1.2 trillion KRW worth of domestic stocks last week. Since the beginning of this month, the net selling volume by foreigners has exceeded 5 trillion KRW.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 26th, foreigners net sold approximately 1.2953 trillion KRW in the domestic stock market from the 20th to the 24th. They net sold about 1.5998 trillion KRW in the KOSPI market, while net buying around 340.7 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market.

During the same period, individual investors also net sold 971.8 billion KRW in KOSPI and 458.6 billion KRW in KOSDAQ, totaling 1.4306 trillion KRW worth of stocks. Institutions, supported by buying momentum mainly from the financial investment sector, recorded net purchases worth approximately 2.7897 trillion KRW.

The stock most net bought by foreigners during this period was Woori Financial Group, with purchases totaling 300.2 billion KRW. This was followed by KT (56.9 billion KRW), HYBE (39.1 billion KRW), S-Oil (35.9 billion KRW), and Kakao (34.5 billion KRW).

On the other hand, Samsung Electronics was the most net sold stock at 1.3082 trillion KRW, followed by SK Hynix (-246.7 billion KRW), Samsung SDI (-168.6 billion KRW), and LG Chem (-113.6 billion KRW).

Park Seung-young, a researcher at Hanwha Investment & Securities, explained, "The reason the Korean stock market is showing particularly weak performance is due to concerns over damage caused by the process of clearing inventory in home appliances and furniture sectors, which had benefited from the COVID-19 boom." He added, "The main factors triggering inflation include semiconductor shortages, rising freight costs, and increased raw material prices, and last week's stock market correction focused on these issues. It is necessary to increase the proportion of sectors that can benefit when inflation eases, such as automobiles, Korea Electric Power Corporation, and healthcare."