[Foreign Investment Trends] Has the Korean Stock Market Bottomed Out?... 3 Consecutive Weeks of 'Buy Korea'

Foreigners Recorded Net Selling Last Month
Net Buying of 1.5 Trillion KRW in Domestic Stocks Since Late September

Samsung Securities: "Interest Rate Hikes Remove the Overly Attractive Drop"
"Intermittent Technical Rebounds Expected"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Foreign investors continued net buying in the domestic stock market for three consecutive weeks.

From the 11th to the 14th, foreign investors net purchased approximately 898.2 billion KRW worth of domestic stocks. They bought 897.7 billion KRW in the KOSPI market and 46.3 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market.

Following a net buying dominance of 259.4 billion KRW in the last week of last month, foreign investors expanded their buying momentum by net purchasing about 433.3 billion KRW in the first week of this month.

Last week, institutions net bought 125.6 billion KRW, while individuals net sold 167.3 billion KRW.

During this period, the stock most net purchased by foreign investors was SK Hynix (304.9 billion KRW). This was followed by LG Energy Solution (106.3 billion KRW), Samsung Electronics (103.9 billion KRW), Samsung SDI (79.5 billion KRW), and Korea Aerospace Industries (53.3 billion KRW).

On the other hand, NAVER was the most net sold stock at 70.4 billion KRW. This was followed by POSCO Holdings (-39.3 billion KRW), L&F (-36.1 billion KRW), SKC (-34.1 billion KRW), and Hyundai Motor (-25.1 billion KRW).

The buying momentum of foreign investors is interpreted as a move to buy at low prices as domestic stocks have continued to be sold off, reaching historically low levels.

Seojeonghoon, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, "Although high inflation and monetary tightening to curb it are still blocking the stock market's upside, the perception of excessive decline is somewhat supporting the downside of the index," adding, "Looking back at historical experience, the current level of adjustment can be considered a level that almost reflects the possibility of a systemic crisis."

However, since U.S. inflation remains high and additional interest rate hikes are expected, a major rebound is unlikely. Researcher Seo advised, "High interest rates have the knack of nullifying the appeal of stocks' excessive declines," and added, "Future repeated technical rebounds will be intermittent and short-lived, and while smart money aiming for timing may use guerrilla tactics to lift certain stocks, considering that macro events are still scattered, it is wise to prepare for a bumpy period."

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