Foreigners Switch 'Palja' in 4 Weeks... KOSPI Net Selling for 2 Consecutive Weeks

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Foreign investors have returned to net selling after 4 weeks. On the KOSPI, they continued their selling streak for 2 consecutive weeks, and on the KOSDAQ, they switched to net selling after 3 weeks.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 5th, foreign investors net purchased about 235.2 billion KRW in the domestic stock market during the week from the 30th to the 3rd. They sold 85 billion KRW in the KOSPI market and 150.2 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market, respectively.

The stock most bought by foreign investors last week was Hotel Shilla. Foreign investors net purchased 34.2 billion KRW of Hotel Shilla last week. This was followed by KB Financial Group, which they bought for 32.5 billion KRW. Other net purchases included Samsung Electro-Mechanics (25.8 billion KRW), Shinhan Financial Group (24.5 billion KRW), NCSOFT (24 billion KRW), Samsung Electronics Preferred Shares (21.7 billion KRW), SK Telecom (20.6 billion KRW), Hyundai Mobis (20.2 billion KRW), Hana Financial Group (18.2 billion KRW), and NAVER (16.4 billion KRW).

The stock most sold by foreign investors last week was Samsung Electronics. Foreign investors net sold 145.6 billion KRW of Samsung Electronics last week. This was followed by Hyundai Motor, which they sold for 52.3 billion KRW. Other top net sales by foreign investors included HL Biopharma (25.2 billion KRW), SK Hynix (21.9 billion KRW), AhnLab (21.7 billion KRW), AfreecaTV (18 billion KRW), Celltrion (17.6 billion KRW), LG Display (17.3 billion KRW), Samsung SDI (15 billion KRW), and Soulbrain (13.4 billion KRW).

The decline in the index at the beginning of the year is expected to be limited. Kim Byung-yeon, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, "Despite favorable macro trends for emerging markets such as the confirmation of a turnaround in Korean exports in December, improvement in Chinese indicators, and a weak dollar, the index recorded weakness at the beginning of the year due to North Korea risks and the weak trends in major developed countries at year-end." He added, "However, since the turnaround in macro indicators is being confirmed, this is considered a technical correction at the upper end of the rising channel, and the decline in the index at the beginning of the year will be limited." Researcher Kim said, "Although there is a desire to realize profits due to the sharp rise in semiconductors in December, momentum related to IT sectors is expected with Samsung Electronics' earnings announcement and the world's largest IT and home appliance exhibition 'CES 2020,' so the IT large caps will maintain a solid trend along with favorable sentiment for small and mid-cap stocks." He added, "Currently, the relative valuation of KOSDAQ is also attractive, and considering the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in mid-January and the January effect, a sector rotation and expansion of small and mid-cap stock buying momentum are expected."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.