"Unusual Foreign Capital Flows... Buying Up KRW 4 Trillion Worth"

As South Korea's leading semiconductor blue-chip stocks plummeted 30% to 40% in just a month, foreign investors have stepped in for bargain hunting, purchasing over KRW 4 trillion worth of shares.

Even Morgan Stanley, the global investment bank that recommended reducing semiconductor exposure just two weeks ago, has reversed its stance, calling it a "buying opportunity."

Foreigners net purchased KRW 4.5771 trillion worth of shares on the KOSPI market over the past three trading sessions.

Buying was heavily concentrated on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, with KRW 1.5638 trillion and KRW 1.4819 trillion flowing in, respectively.

Particularly, foreigners purchased KRW 2.6211 trillion in the domestic stock market yesterday alone, marking the largest scale in about two months.

On the same day, retail investors and institutions net sold KRW 1.2177 trillion and KRW 1.3961 trillion, respectively.

Boosted by foreign buying, the KOSPI briefly recovered the 7,000 mark during the session, but as profit-taking orders poured in during the afternoon, it gave up most of its gains and closed up 0.74% at 6,797.70 compared to the previous trading day.

SK Hynix stock also surged more than 9% to recover the KRW 2 million mark, but dropped sharply in the afternoon to finish down 0.33% at KRW 1.83 million.

After hitting their closing-price peaks on June 22, SK Hynix has fallen 39.57% and Samsung Electronics has declined 31.94% over the same period.

The market is paying close attention to whether the flow of foreign funds has shifted structurally.

In a report on the 5th, Morgan Stanley had advised reducing semiconductor weighting in the short term while expanding investments in hyperscalers and big tech, stating that the narrow, semiconductor-centric rally was coming to an end and leadership was broadening.

However, Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore stated on the 20th that the ongoing memory cycle is unusual compared to the past because it is driven by AI data center demand, adding, "We view the recent stock price weakness as a great buying opportunity."

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video edited by Lee Eui-seon | Design by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.