Ants in Group 4 Sell Off This Month, Massive Sell-Off of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix

Samsung Electronics 1.7225 trillion KRW
SK Hynix 616.3 billion KRW
Account for Half of KOSPI Net Selling

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] The selling trend among individual investors, which began last month, continues. They have already sold more than 4 trillion won on the KOSPI this month.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 17th, individuals have net sold 4.0907 trillion won on the KOSPI from the beginning of this month until the day before. Individuals, who recorded monthly net selling for the first time this year last month, appear to be expanding their selling scale this month. This already exceeds more than twice the net selling amount of 1.7927 trillion won recorded last month.

The clear change in individual investors' supply and demand patterns is shown by their change of heart toward Samsung Electronics. Individuals have net sold 1.7225 trillion won of Samsung Electronics this month, making it the most sold stock. Following that, SK Hynix was net sold by 616.3 billion won. The net selling amounts of these two stocks account for more than half of the total net selling on the KOSPI this month. Other stocks in the top individual net selling list include LG (410.9 billion won), Samsung Biologics (248.3 billion won), Kia (235.5 billion won), Samsung Electronics Preferred (188 billion won), Kakao Pay (175.6 billion won), and Hyundai Motor (150.5 billion won).

Due to the continued selling since last month, the trading proportion of individuals has also declined. According to Yuanta Securities, the individual trading proportion on the KOSPI in December was 48.4%, marking the lowest point since February last year. The individual trading proportion on the KOSPI exceeded 60% for 18 consecutive months from April last year to October this year. Kim Kwanghyun, a researcher at Yuanta Securities, explained, "The individual trading proportion exceeding 60% was only recorded once (60.2% in July 2015) in the previous 10 years, which shows the influence of individual investors on the domestic stock market after COVID-19. However, the individual trading proportion dropped to 58.1% in October and 57.4% in November, and this month it fell below 50%, returning to the 10-year average level (49.8%)."

As individual investors lose interest in the sluggish stock market, the likelihood of a large-scale net buying similar to the beginning of this year seems low. Individuals net bought a whopping 22.3 trillion won on the KOSPI in January this year. Researcher Kim said, "Last year, as the KOSPI rose significantly, many investors became major shareholders, and it is estimated that large-scale net buying occurred during the position reset process at the end of the year and the beginning of the year due to the issue of strengthening major shareholder requirements. However, this year, the stock market did not rise significantly, and considering that it has become easier to avoid through Contracts for Difference (CFD), the phenomenon like January this year is unlikely to occur again in January next year."

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