[Anchor]
It is Thursday, time for our "Friendly Economy" segment with reporter Han Jiyeon. Han, many people seem to be getting a head start on preparing their Chuseok gifts.
[Reporter]
That is why I titled today's segment "Polarized Chuseok Gifts."
While gifts priced at 500,000 won or more accounted for around 40 percent of sales at department stores, products under 50,000 won dominated at large discount supermarkets.
With high inflation and economic uncertainty, consumer spending on Chuseok gift sets appears to be splitting into two distinct directions.
Let us look at department stores first.
Shinsegae Department Store recently saw its advance reservation sales for Chuseok gifts surge by more than 62 percent.
Gifts priced over 500,000 won accounted for nearly half of total sales.
The best-selling item was a 270,000-won Korean beef set.
Hyundai Department Store also saw a 61 percent increase in sales, where even more expensive Korean beef sets flew off the shelves.
A set priced at 690,000 won sold out immediately after sales began.
However, the picture changes completely when we look at large supermarkets.
At E-Mart, products priced under 50,000 won accounted for 77.4 percent of sales.
Lotte Mart also recorded its highest proportion in the under-50,000-won category at 57.5 percent.
[Anchor]
What is the most rational way to go about shopping?
[Reporter]
Right now, you should make the most of advance reservations and supermarket discounts.
Next week, taking advantage of traditional market refunds will be your best bet.
With the Chuseok holiday now exactly two weeks away,
first of all, if you are selecting gift sets right now, choosing the right items is crucial.
Industry insiders say that during the advance reservation period when bulk orders flood in, cost-effective items are strong, whereas during the main sales period, rare and unique items gain the upper hand.
Selecting the right categories also helps.
Although apple supplies have increased this year, the proportion of large apples used for gift sets, known as large-sized fruit, is low, making prices more expensive than in previous years.
Consequently, sales of imported fruit sets at E-Mart jumped by 158 percent, while tropical fruit sets at Lotte Mart rose by 135 percent.
Such alternative fruits can serve as options instead of apples.
As more consumers look for unique cuts of meat like Tomahawk, E-Mart's sales of pork gift sets increased by 63 percent.
Second, it is time to take advantage of government discounts this week.
Discounts of up to 40 percent on agricultural and livestock products have been underway since the 3rd of this month, while discounts of up to 50 percent on marine products started yesterday, on the 9th.
Third, it is advisable to visit traditional markets from the 16th to the 20th of next week.
If you purchase domestic agricultural, livestock, and marine products at participating traditional markets during this period, you can receive a refund in Onnuri gift certificates: 10,000 won back for purchases of 34,000 won or more, and up to 20,000 won back for purchases of 67,000 won or more.
[Anchor]
Lastly, I understand that quite a large volume of sell orders could come out for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix stocks today?
[Reporter]
Driven by today being a futures and options expiry day combined with ETF trading for sector index reorganizations, trading volume is expected to reach 1.8 trillion won by the market close.
Every September, the Korea Exchange reshuffles the constituent stocks and weights of sector-specific indices such as semiconductors, IT, and banks.
ETFs that track these indices rebalance their portfolios based on today's closing prices, exactly one day in advance.
The reason as much as 1.8 trillion won is moving this time is that the size of semiconductor ETFs has grown significantly from the 1 trillion won range last year to 8 trillion won now.
However, these indices have a rule capping any single stock at a maximum of 20 percent.
As of the 7th, SK Hynix accounted for 37.5 percent and Samsung Electronics for 22.7 percent of this index, meaning both have exceeded this upper limit and must sell off a certain portion.
Securities brokerages estimate that sell orders of up to 1.45 trillion won from SK Hynix and up to 240 billion won from Samsung Electronics—totaling around 1.69 trillion won at most—could emerge.
However, this money is not leaving the semiconductor market; rather, buying interest is structured to shift to other semiconductor stocks or newly incorporated semiconductor equipment makers like TES and component makers TSE in proportion to the reduced weights.
The problem is that these orders are likely to cluster in a short window called the closing auction right before the market shuts today, which could heighten short-term volatility compounded by the futures and options expiry.
The key point is that these sell-offs are not happening because the outlook for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix has worsened, but rather mechanical trades to match index weightings.
In fact, overseas investors' interest continues, with ETFs investing in the two companies newly listed in Japan recently.
Therefore, you just need to keep in mind that volatility could spike around the market close today.
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.