Semiconductor Stocks' Volatile Trading, Where Is Foreign Investor Sentiment Headed?

Samsung Electronics switches back to selling pressure just one day after net buying
SK Hynix records net buying for two consecutive days

Kim Ki-nam, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, is speaking at the 51st Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Samsung Electronics held on the morning of the 18th at the Suwon Convention Center in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung, Suwon aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Foreign investors who bought Samsung Electronics shares for the first time in 14 trading days turned to selling after just one day. Meanwhile, steady buying pressure continues to focus on SK Hynix, drawing attention to the future movements of foreign investors.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 26th, foreign investors sold a net 133.2 billion KRW worth of Samsung Electronics shares the previous day. Although they had bought a net 130.3 billion KRW worth of Samsung Electronics shares on the 24th for the first time in 14 trading days, they returned to selling the next day, giving back the previous day's purchases. Since the beginning of this month, the net selling volume of Samsung Electronics shares by foreign investors has reached 4.7665 trillion KRW.

Despite the continued selling pressure from foreign investors, Samsung Electronics' stock price is showing an upward trend. This is because large-scale net buying by individual investors is supporting it. The cumulative net purchase amount of Samsung Electronics shares by individuals this month has reached 4.5459 trillion KRW. As a result, as of 9:30 AM on the day, Samsung Electronics was priced at 48,750 KRW, up 0.21% from the previous day. It has risen for three consecutive days, with increases of 10.47% on the 24th and 3.62% the previous day. At 11:20 AM, it showed a slight decline to 48,200 KRW.

Foreign buying pressure concentrated on SK Hynix. The previous day, foreign investors purchased 78.2 billion KRW worth of shares, making it the top net purchase stock among foreign investors. This came after 21 consecutive trading days of net selling since the 21st of last month, followed by two consecutive days of buying. With a price-to-book ratio (PBR) of only 1.2 times, there is still growth potential, and various policies aimed at stabilizing the stock market both domestically and internationally have been pouring out, which is interpreted as having positively influenced the foreign exchange market and foreign investors' trading patterns.

SK Hynix was traded at 85,800 KRW at the same time on the day, up 1.54% from the previous day. Compared to the closing price of 69,400 KRW on the 23rd, when foreign investors last net sold, it has risen 23.6%. It has been on an upward trend for three consecutive days since foreign investors turned to net buying on the 24th.

As the two leading semiconductor stocks show an upward trend, the semiconductor index is also steadily rising. According to the Korea Exchange, the semiconductor index was 2,165.40, up 0.39% from the previous day in early trading on the day. Compared to the lowest point in three months of 1,737.24 on the 17th, it has risen 24.6%.

Researcher Gyujin Eo from DB Financial Investment said, "Social distancing due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), such as remote work, online education, and individual content consumption, will accelerate the Fourth Industrial Revolution represented by data centers and artificial intelligence (AI)." He added, "Memory semiconductors are one of the few industries benefiting from COVID-19."

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