Interest Shifts to Foreign Blue-chip Stocks and ETFs
The Korea Exchange announced on April 20 that individual investors net-bought 1,650.3 billion won of stocks in the South Korean market from March 25 to April 16, when KOSPI rose from slightly over 3,000 points to slightly over 3,200 points.
In that period, foreign investors net-bought 3,080.4 billion won of stocks there and individual investors net-bought 1,816.7 billion won of foreign stocks.
Their net purchase in Tesla amounted to US$127.84 million, followed by those in TSMC (US$63.78 million), S&P 500 ETF (US$57.87 million) and iShares Trust Goldman Sachs Semico ETF (US$48.5 million). The top 15 picks of the investors included 11 ETFs in that period whereas individual stocks made up the majority of the picks last year.
According to industry sources, South Korean investors’ interest is shifting towards foreign blue-chip stocks and ETFs from KOSPI. “The rise from 3,000 to 3,200 points was led by small-cap stocks, and this is another reason for the increased preference for foreign blue-chip stocks,” one of them said, adding, “KOSPI topped 3,200 points in late January and on April 16 and the Samsung Electronics stock price fell from approximately 89,000 won to 83,000 won between the two points in time.”