Donghak Ants Unshaken in a Bear Market

Foreigners and Institutions Sell While Individuals Continue Net Buying for 4 Consecutive Days
Purchasing Mainly Large Caps Like Samsung Electronics Amid 70,000 Won Level Decline

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Recently, the KOSPI has shown weakness due to concerns over US inflation, but individual investors have been defending the index decline by continuously net buying. In particular, they have shown unwavering affection by purchasing Samsung Electronics, which has fallen to the 70,000 KRW range, the most.

As of 9:20 AM on the 14th, individuals recorded a net purchase of 215.5 billion KRW on the KOSPI. This marks the fourth consecutive day of net buying. Amid selling pressure from foreigners and institutions, with the KOSPI falling over 1% for three consecutive days, individuals defended the index by net buying over one trillion KRW for three consecutive days. This is the first time since January that individuals have net bought over one trillion KRW for three consecutive days. On the 11th, individuals net bought 3.5601 trillion KRW, on the 12th 2.9894 trillion KRW, and on the 13th 1.4425 trillion KRW. As individuals actively net bought, trading volume also increased. The KOSPI trading volume over the past three days was 21.8835 trillion KRW, 22.4581 trillion KRW, and 21.0598 trillion KRW respectively. The daily trading volume of the KOSPI exceeding 20 trillion KRW is the first time since February 26.

Looking at the top stocks net bought by individuals, the buying enthusiasm for Samsung Electronics remained strong. From the beginning of this month until the day before, individuals net bought Samsung Electronics worth 3.5467 trillion KRW, making it the most purchased stock. During the three days starting from the 3rd, when the price fell 5.65% and broke below the 80,000 KRW level, individuals bought 3.382 trillion KRW, indicating active bargain hunting. In addition, this month individuals net bought SK Hynix (956.1 billion KRW), Naver (NAVER, 521 billion KRW), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (472.8 billion KRW), Kakao (454 billion KRW), SK IE Technology (426.9 billion KRW), Samsung SDI (293.3 billion KRW), LG Electronics (290.1 billion KRW), Samsung Electronics Preferred (212.9 billion KRW), and Kumho Petrochemical (164 billion KRW), mainly purchasing large-cap stocks that recently experienced significant declines.

Individuals have shown a pattern of actively buying after the KOSPI reached an all-time high. Previously, after the KOSPI surpassed the 3,200 mark for the first time on January 25, individuals net bought 4.205 trillion KRW the next day, continuing net buying over one trillion KRW for four consecutive days. Similarly, after reaching 3,220 on April 22 and setting a new all-time high, individuals net bought 2.7115 trillion KRW the following day and continued net buying for three days.

So far, there is a high possibility that more individual funds will flow into the stock market. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, as of the 12th, investor deposit funds stood at 71.5964 trillion KRW. Investor deposit funds, which had been moving in the low 60 trillion KRW range in April, exceeded 70 trillion KRW due to fund inflows from the SK IE Technology public offering subscription and have since been moving between the high 60 trillion and low 70 trillion KRW range. Park Seokjung, a researcher at Shinhan Financial Investment, said, "Customer deposit funds, which are waiting funds for individual investors' stock investments, are maintained in the high 60 trillion KRW range, which helps alleviate the burden of foreign investor outflows."

However, if inflation concerns intensify and the stock market continues to show sluggish trends, individual investor sentiment may also weaken. During the stock market boom in January, individuals engaged in record-high net buying, but as the market entered a correction phase, the buying intensity weakened. Roh Donggil, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, "Inflation concerns are expected to persist for the time being," adding, "Since it is necessary to verify through future data whether inflation is temporary, it may be difficult to quickly ease caution."

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