Foreigners Net Sold 8 Stocks, Individuals Net Bought 8 Out of 10 Stocks
Battery Stocks Account for Half... Prices Up Since Early Year
Semiconductor and Automobile Stocks Loved by Foreigners, Sold Heavily by Individuals
This year, the investment trends of foreigners and individuals have shown almost opposite patterns. While foreigners sold off battery stocks, individuals bought them and made profits. Conversely, as semiconductor and automobile stocks rose due to foreign buying, individuals sold off their holdings.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 1st, the top 10 stocks with the highest net foreign buying from January 2 to May 31 this year were Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Hyundai Motor, Samsung SDI, LG Electronics, Kia, LG Energy Solution, Hanwha Aerospace, Hyundai Rotem, and Samsung Engineering. The top 10 stocks with the highest net foreign selling were POSCO Holdings, EcoPro, POSCO Future M, KB Financial, LG Chem, Osstem Implant, SK Innovation, Kakao, EcoPro BM, and Kangwon Land.
In contrast, the top 10 stocks with the highest net individual buying were POSCO Holdings, EcoPro, EcoPro BM, Hanwha Solutions, POSCO Future M, LG Household & Health Care, Kangwon Land, SK Innovation, Kakao, and LG Chem. The top 10 stocks with the highest net individual selling were Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Hyundai Motor, Kia, LG Energy Solution, LG Electronics, Samsung SDI, Osstem Implant, HYBE, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics.
Individuals essentially received 8 out of the 10 stocks that foreigners sold. Among the stocks that foreigners were buying, individuals sold 5. At least in the battery sector, individuals were the investment winners. Half of the stocks that foreigners sold were battery stocks, all of which saw their prices rise compared to the beginning of the year.
POSCO Holdings and EcoPro ranked first and second in net foreign selling but were also first and second in net individual buying. The stock prices of POSCO Holdings (from 272,000 KRW to 360,000 KRW) and EcoPro (from 110,000 KRW to 563,000 KRW) surged by 32.3% and 411.8%, respectively, compared to the start of the year.
At the beginning of the year, battery stocks gained attention as beneficiaries of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), causing their prices to rise sharply. As stock prices soared, market and individual outlooks began to diverge. Some private equity firms reportedly incurred losses after short-selling battery stocks.
In the semiconductor sector, individuals, weary from the sluggish stock prices since last year, appear to have exited during the upward trend. Although the outlook on the semiconductor industry has turned positive, caution remains. Hyungwoo Park, a researcher at SK Securities, analyzed, "Besides macro issues and economic uncertainties, the market environment is challenging. The U.S.-China dispute could again act as a source of uncertainty in terms of stock prices." Yuak Park, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, evaluated, "Samsung Electronics is expected to see a strong stock price supported by rising NAND and foundry market shares and anticipation of a DRAM turnaround, but SK Hynix faces pressure from a short-term rapid price increase."
A financial investment industry official explained, "Foreigners mainly invest through funds that must hold certain proportions of stocks included in the MSCI index, so there is a large framework for buying stocks in the domestic market. Therefore, the stocks they buy, such as semiconductors, automobiles, and chemicals, are somewhat predetermined. However, individuals have smaller capital and relatively shorter profit realization periods, which seems to have influenced the divergent investment trends."
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