Foreigners’ Stock Purchase

Foreign investors net bought the largest amount of Korean stocks during the first half this year in eight years after the global financial crisis in 2009.
Foreign investors net bought the largest amount of Korean stocks during the first half this year in eight years after the global financial crisis in 2009.

 

Foreign investors net bought the largest amount of Korean stocks during the first six months this year in eight years after the global financial crisis in 2009.

According to the data from the Korea Exchange on July 2, foreigners net purchased 10.3 trillion won (US$8.99 billion) worth of stocks from January to June this year, with the total breaking down to 9.25 trillion won (US$8.08 billion) for the KOSPI main bourse and 1.1 trillion won (US$960 million) for the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market. Institutions and foreign individual investors net sold 10.2 trillion won (US$8.9 billion) and 2.2 trillion won (US$1.92 billion), respectively.

Shares of handset and panel maker LG Electronics drew the largest foreign investment in the first half, with the net purchase of foreign investors hitting 972 billion won (US$848.91 million). During the cited six months, LG Electronics’ stock prices soared 55.43 percent due to solid earnings in its all business sectors. Following LG Electronics, KB Financial Group drew foreign net purchase of 722.4 billion won (US$630.92 million) in the first half. The group saw its performance improve in the first half owing to the increase in net interest margins and its share prices surge 34.81 percent this year. Hyundai Motor, Samsung SDI and Hyundai Mobis were also among the top five companies that enjoyed the high net purchases of 690.9 billion won (US$603.41 million), 630.8 billion won (US$550.92 million) and 530.8 billion won (US$463.58 million) respectively.

On the other hand, Samsung Electronics ranked first in the amount of net selling by foreigners with 1.68 trillion won (US$1.46 billion) on profit-taking amid the sharp rise in the price of the stocks of the company. Foreigners also net sold 376.8 billion won (US$329.08 million) worth of SK Hynix stocks amid the dramatic price hikes of the semiconductor manufacturer due to the chip market boom.

 

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