Foreign investors dump 7.6 trillion won in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix... Retail investors buy amid foreign exodus

[Financial News] Foreign investors have net sold about 7.6 trillion won worth of shares in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix over the past five trading days. Concentrated selling in the two companies sent their share prices sharply lower, while foreign ownership fell to its lowest level in years.
Concerns that regulations on artificial intelligence (AI) data centers could be tightened after the U.S. midterm elections weighed on investor sentiment. Foreign ownership of Samsung Electronics hit its lowest level in about 17 years and four months, while that of SK hynix fell to its lowest in about five years.
According to the Korea Exchange and Koscom Check on the 9th, foreign investors net sold about 10.4 trillion won on the KOSPI market from the 2nd through the 6th. The figure represents net selling over five trading days.
Foreign selling was most heavily concentrated in SK hynix. Net sales during the period totaled 5.4 trillion won, the largest amount among stocks listed on the KOSPI market.
Samsung Electronics ranked second to SK hynix, with foreign net sales of 2.2 trillion won. Combined net sales of the two semiconductor heavyweights amounted to about 7.6 trillion won.
Foreign investors also continued selling other major Samsung Group stocks. Samsung Electro-Mechanics saw net sales of 783.3 billion won, the third-largest amount by value, while Samsung Electronics preferred shares also recorded net selling of 156.4 billion won.
As large-scale net selling continued, foreign investors’ ownership stakes in both companies fell significantly.
Foreign ownership of Samsung Electronics fell to 45.95% on the 6th. This was its lowest level in about 17 years and four months, since it stood at 45.83% on July 7, 2009, when investor sentiment was dampened by the Global Financial Crisis.
Foreign ownership of SK hynix also fell, to 48.27%. This was its lowest level in about five years, since it stood at 47.97% on November 22, 2021.
Share prices also plunged amid large-scale foreign selling. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix both posted double-digit declines over the week.
Samsung Electronics’ share price fell from 225,000 won on the 30th of last month to 188,700 won on the 6th of this month, a decline of 16.13% over the week. Over the same period, SK hynix plunged 20.17%, from 1,418,000 won to 1,132,000 won.
By contrast, individual and institutional investors moved to buy Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, taking the opposite side of foreign investors.
From the 2nd through the 6th, SK hynix was the stock most heavily net bought by individual investors, with net purchases totaling 2.2 trillion won. They also net bought 1.9 trillion won worth of Samsung Electronics, bringing combined net purchases of the two stocks to more than 4.1 trillion won.
Institutional investors also net bought 1.4 trillion won worth of SK hynix, the largest amount among stocks they bought. Samsung Electronics ranked behind Celltrion, with net purchases of 261 billion won.


[email protected] Han Seung-gon Reporter