Foreign Investors Who Sold 75 Trillion Won Over 24 Days Are Back... A 1.2 Trillion Won Buying Spree in Just One Day

[Financial News]  Foreign investors, who had been engaged in massive selling for 24 consecutive trading days, appear to have returned to the KOSPI market. They posted net buying of more than 1 trillion won in a single day, driving the sharp rally and aggressively purchasing Samsung Electronics, which they had sold the most during the previous period.

Yonhap News Agency reported on the 12th, citing the Korea Exchange (KRX) and Yonhap Infomax, that as of 10:47 a.m. the KOSPI had surged about 7% from the previous trading day. Early in the session, a buy-side sidecar was triggered as program buy orders surged.
Foreign investors and institutions were at the center of the market's sharp rise. Foreigners bought a net 1.1958 trillion won, while institutions bought a net 1.2447 trillion won. Individual investors, meanwhile, sold a net 2.2968 trillion won as they locked in profits.
In particular, this was the first time in 25 trading days that foreign investors had posted net buying in the KOSPI market, since the 7th of last month. They had sold a net 75.569 trillion won in the KOSPI market alone, extending a 24-day streak of net selling through the previous day. Including trading on the alternative exchange Nextrade, the net selling total reached 84.629 trillion won.
The 24 consecutive trading days of net selling marked the fourth-longest such streak in the history of the domestic stock market.
According to Yonhap News Agency, securities analysts interpreted the recent foreign selling not as a negative outlook on the Korean stock market, but as a move to rebalance assets.

They said the rapid rise in the KOSPI, which had surged close to the 9,000-point level in less than a month after breaking above 7,000 last month, prompted both profit-taking and adjustments in global portfolio allocations.
In fact, the stock foreign investors sold the most over the past 24 trading days was Samsung Electronics. Their net selling reached 31.8708 trillion won. SK hynix followed with 28.919 trillion won, then Hyundai Mobis Company Limited with 338.11 billion won, LG Electronics with 267.66 billion won, and Hyundai Motor Company with 263.46 billion won.

By share count, Samsung Electronics also saw the largest selling pressure. Foreign investors sold a net 107.3 million shares, pushing the foreign ownership ratio in Samsung Electronics down to 47.58% as of the close on the 11th.
Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (26.27 million shares), SK hynix (15.04 million shares), LG Electronics (8.73 million shares), and Doosan Enerbility (7.19 million shares) also ranked among the most-sold stocks by foreign investors.
On this day, foreign investors abruptly changed course.

They were the most aggressive buyers of Samsung Electronics, purchasing a net 342.6 billion won worth of shares. Global investment bank JPMorgan Chase also appeared among the major buying channels. Backed by this demand, Samsung Electronics shares surged more than 11%. Foreign investors also bought heavily into Samsung Electro-Mechanics (189.1 billion won), SK hynix (171.9 billion won), Samsung Electronics preferred shares (64 billion won), and Foosung Co., Ltd. (29.3 billion won).
Daejun Kim, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities Co., Ltd., said, "It is still too early to conclude the direction, but today's shift to net buying by foreign investors is the most noteworthy change," adding, "It can be seen as a sign that the extreme anxiety that had weighed on the market is gradually easing."

y27k@fnnews.com Seoyun Kyung Reporter