Foreigners Continue 'Palja' for 2 Consecutive Weeks... Net Buying by NCSoft and Kakao

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Foreign investors continued their selling streak in the domestic stock market for two consecutive weeks.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 17th, foreign investors net sold approximately 2.0632 trillion KRW in the domestic stock market during the week from the 11th to the 15th. They sold 1.8326 trillion KRW in the KOSPI market and 229.6 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market, respectively.

The stock most purchased by foreign investors last week was NCSoft. Foreign investors net bought NCSoft shares worth 67.2 billion KRW last week. This was followed by Kakao, with purchases totaling 65.9 billion KRW. Other stocks net bought included LG Household & Health Care (60.8 billion KRW), Samsung SDI (59.6 billion KRW), Samsung Biologics (56.4 billion KRW), Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (19 billion KRW), Orion (12.7 billion KRW), Neowiz (12.3 billion KRW), POSCO Chemical (11.8 billion KRW), and NHN (11.6 billion KRW).

The stock most sold by foreign investors last week was Samsung Electronics. Foreign investors net sold Samsung Electronics shares worth 340.4 billion KRW last week. This was followed by SK Hynix, with sales totaling 339.9 billion KRW. Other stocks among the top net sales by foreign investors included LG Chem (184.6 billion KRW), NAVER (103.5 billion KRW), KB Financial Group (87.7 billion KRW), Samsung Electronics Preferred Shares (83.4 billion KRW), SK Telecom (73 billion KRW), Korea Electric Power Corporation (49.7 billion KRW), SK Innovation (47.9 billion KRW), and Hyundai Motor Company (46.8 billion KRW).

It is believed that for foreign investors to return, conditions such as a weakening of the US dollar and an increase in earnings estimates are necessary. Researcher Hainhwan from Meritz Securities stated, "The upward momentum of the stock market appears somewhat slowed," adding, "Although more than 40 trillion KRW of individual funds are still on standby, the timing of foreign investors' return is crucial for the domestic stock market to level up once again." He further noted, "For foreign investors to come back, a weakening of the US dollar, a turnaround in earnings estimate growth, and a slowdown in the rise of new COVID-19 cases in some emerging countries (Brazil, India, South Africa, Russia, etc.) are needed."

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