Foreigners Dump 9 Trillion Won Worth of Samsung, SK Hynix in a Week, Yet Bet on Index Rise via ETFs

During the past week when the KOSPI pulled back to the mid-5,000 range, foreigners sold nearly 9 trillion won worth of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, but appeared to have "bet" on an upward trend of the KOSPI index through exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

According to Koscom CHECK on the 19th, foreigners net sold 5.3626 trillion won worth of SK Hynix and 3.4897 trillion won worth of Samsung Electronics during the past week (from the 12th to 16th).

The combined net selling amount of the two stocks reached a total of 8.8523 trillion won.

Even while dumping about 9 trillion won worth of these two top stocks leading the domestic stock market, they showed a contrasting move by investing in products tracking the daily returns of the KOSPI 200 index through ETFs.

During the same period, foreigners net purchased 162.8 billion won worth of "KODEX 200".

This is the largest amount among all stocks listed on the Kospi market, including ETFs.

"TIGER 200" followed with 69.5 billion won, ranking second among ETFs, and "KODEX Leverage" (48.7 billion won), which tracks twice the daily return of the KOSPI 200, followed right behind.

However, "KODEX SK Hynix Single Stock Leverage" (-41.3 billion won) and "KODEX Semiconductor Leverage" (-38.8 billion won) ranked first and second in net selling, indicating that a downward outlook prevailed for semiconductor-related ETFs.

From the 12th to 16th, the KOSPI fell by 14.46%.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped by 17.75% and 24.33%, respectively.

Foreigners net sold 11.2395 trillion won in the Kospi market during this period.

However, they net purchased 440.2 billion won in ETFs.

Lee Sang-hyun, a researcher at Meritz Securities, analyzed, "It was a week where index-type ETFs absorbed the selling volume from foreigners," adding, "Inflows into leverage confirmed a dominant bet on a rebound, and substantial funds also flowed into covered calls, showing a demand to monetize volatility."

Seol Tae-hyun, a researcher at DB Securities, pointed out, "Most of the foreign net selling was concentrated on semiconductors, causing supply and demand to undershoot," and added, "It is necessary to check triggers for a supply and demand rebound through big tech earnings comments and macroeconomic stability."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.