Stock Market Hit by Ukraine War Fears... 1.4 Trillion Won Foreign Capital Outflow

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, foreigners have withdrawn approximately 1.4 trillion KRW from the domestic stock market.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 26th, foreigners net sold about 1.4841 trillion KRW from the 21st to the 25th of this month. Foreigners had shifted to net buying earlier this month, showing three consecutive weeks of net buying before turning to net selling last week.

The most sold stock was Samsung Electronics. During this period, foreigners sold Samsung Electronics worth about 1.4307 trillion KRW and bought 104.33 billion KRW, resulting in a net sale of 387.4 billion KRW. This was followed by net sales of LG Chem (-248.1 billion KRW), LG Energy Solution (-223.2 billion KRW), and SK Hynix (-153 billion KRW).

On the other hand, foreigners net bought Kakao (87.8 billion KRW), SK Square (71.5 billion KRW), L&F (37.5 billion KRW), Hana Financial Group (32 billion KRW), and SK Bioscience (29.5 billion KRW), among others.

However, foreigners showed a net selling streak from the 21st, when fears of the Ukraine war spread, until the actual attack on the 24th, but switched to net buying on the 25th. This shift came amid expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) might find it difficult to raise interest rates next month due to the war.

Seung-hoon Lee, a researcher at Meritz Securities, said, "This week's stock market is being affected by rising commodity prices triggered by the Ukraine war, which is increasing economic risks, making hints from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on appropriate monetary policy urgently needed," adding, "Inflation forecasts and the policy specifics of major central banks could impact the stock market."

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