Seoul, South Korea – The Korean stock market recorded a new high for net foreign selling in its main stock market during November, while individual investors continued their net buying trend, the exchange’s operator announced Sunday.
According to data from the Korean Stock Exchange, foreign investors sold shares in the KOSPI index worth 14.4 trillion won ($9.8 billion) during November. This marks the highest level of net monthly sales ever recorded, surpassing the previous record of 12.5 trillion won set in March 2020 during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Foreigners had recorded net purchases of 7.4 trillion won in September and 5.3 trillion won in October. Prior to that, they switched to net sales in November. Their total net sales from January to November amounted to 8.8 trillion won.
Sources attribute this decline in foreign appetite for high-risk assets to the fading expectations of a US interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve meeting in December, as well as the growing uncertainty surrounding artificial intelligence technologies, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
During November, foreign investors sold 8.7 trillion won worth of shares in SK Hynix and 2.2 trillion won worth of shares in Samsung Electronics. These two companies account for 76% of total net foreign sales.
Doosan Enerbility followed with net sales of 787 billion won, then Naver with 606 billion won, and KB Financial Group with 558 billion won.
In contrast, individual investors continued their buying trend, recording their third-largest net monthly purchase in history at 9.2 trillion won. This followed levels in January 2021 (22.3 trillion won) and March 2020 (11.1 trillion won).
SK Hynix was their top choice, with purchases totaling 5.9 trillion won. They also made 1.2 trillion won purchases of Samsung Electronics shares, along with stocks in companies such as Doosan Enerility, Naver, and Samsung Eps.
The Kospi index experienced wide fluctuations during November. It reached a record high of 4,221.87 points on the first trading day of the month, then declined to close at 3,926.59 points on November 28.
