Foreign Investors Dump Stocks as KOSPI Rises, Marking Record Net Selling (Update)

Foreign investors post 5 trillion won in net selling on the KOSPI in a single day on the 5th

An employee is monitoring the stock market and exchange rates in the dealing room at Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Feb. 5. The KOSPI opened at 5,251.03 that day, down 120.07 points (2.24%) from the previous trading day (5,371.10), and the won-to-dollar exchange rate opened at 1,461.0 won, up 10.8 won. Feb. 5, 2026 Cho Yongjun, Reporter

On the 5th, foreign investors sold stocks in the Korean stock market on an unprecedented scale, marking the largest net selling on record.

According to the Korea Exchange, on this day foreign investors recorded net selling (purchases minus sales) of 5.0216 trillion won on the KOSPI. The previous record was set on November 21 last year, when foreign investors posted net selling of 2.8308 trillion won.

Institutional investors also recorded net selling of 2.0705 trillion won on the same day, while only individual investors provided support to the index by recording net buying of 6.7639 trillion won.

Selling was concentrated in leading semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Foreign investors alone recorded net selling of 2.58 trillion won in Samsung Electronics on the day, leading the decline in the index. They also recorded net selling of 13.792 trillion won in SK Hynix.

Experts believe that this move was driven more by profit-taking, as share prices of semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix had risen significantly, rather than by fundamental issues such as deteriorating corporate earnings.

Lee Kyungmin, a researcher at Daishin Securities, analyzed, "As global stock markets remain weak, foreign investors are taking profits, focusing on sectors such as semiconductors and automobiles, whose share prices have risen sharply so far," adding, "Foreign investors' profit-taking may continue for the time being."

Meanwhile, the won-to-dollar exchange rate also surged on the back of foreign investors' net selling of Korean stocks. In the Seoul foreign exchange market on the same day, the won-to-dollar exchange rate closed at 1,469.0 won as of 3:30 p.m., up 18.8 won from the previous day.