Foreign investors sell $15.1 billion in South Korean shares, led by SK hynix and Samsung Electronics

Foreign investors sold a net 20.3 trillion won ($15.1 billion) worth of shares on South Korea’s main Kospi market over the past month, with semiconductor heavyweights SK hynix and Samsung Electronics accounting for most of the outflow, market data showed Sunday.

From Sept. 1 through Oct. 2, foreign investors recorded net sales of 20.305 trillion won, according to the Korea Exchange and financial data provider Yonhap Infomax. The total includes transactions on the after-market session introduced Sept. 15.

They were net buyers on only seven of the 22 trading days during the period. On Sept. 28 alone, foreign net selling exceeded 3 trillion won.

The sustained outflow reduced foreign investors’ share of the Kospi’s total market capitalization to 39.66 percent.

Selling was concentrated in the country’s two biggest memory chipmakers. Foreign investors sold a net 12.009 trillion won of SK hynix shares and 5.186 trillion won of Samsung Electronics shares during the period.

Foreign ownership of SK hynix stood at 49.76 percent as of Oct. 2, its lowest level since May 2023. Samsung Electronics’ foreign ownership ratio stood at 46.41 percent after falling to 46.40 percent on Sept. 30.

Market analysts attributed the recent selling partly to profit-taking after strong gains in large-cap semiconductor stocks earlier this year. The prolonged US-Iran conflict and rising interest rates in major economies have also weighed on investor sentiment.

There were signs, however, that the pace of selling was easing. Foreign investors bought a net 243 billion won on Oct. 1 and sold 190 billion won the following day, considerably smaller moves than those seen in September.

Attention is now turning to third-quarter earnings for clues on whether improving profit visibility in the chip sector could draw foreign funds back into Korean equities.

Micron Technology, the first of the three major global memory chipmakers to report results, posted better-than-expected earnings on Sept. 30. Samsung Electronics is expected to release preliminary third-quarter results around Oct. 8.

Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said easing macroeconomic uncertainty and clearer earnings visibility after the reporting season could encourage renewed foreign buying.

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