Korean stocks see the largest foreign inflow in two months

Deep Tide TechFlow message: On July 23, according to South Korean media outlet The Seoul Economic Daily, as foreign investors logged the largest net buying inflow in about two months, expectations of a rebound in the South Korean KOSPI index are heating up. Korean securities firms believe that, compared with day-to-day market moves, whether foreign capital flows have shifted into sustained net inflows is the key factor determining the future direction of Korean stocks.

Data from South Korean exchanges on July 23 showed that on the previous day foreign investors net bought 2.6211 trillion won on the South Korean main board market, the highest record in nearly two months. Driven by foreign buying demand, the KOSPI index returned to the 7,000-point level intraday for the first time in four trading days, triggering the 20th halt mechanism for programmatic trading since the beginning of the year. However, in the afternoon, institutional and retail investors took profits, causing the index to give back most of its gains; in the end, it only rose 0.74%, closing at 6,797.70 points.

Kim Seok-hwan, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said that despite the large net buying by foreign investors, retail investors and financial institutions collectively sold off semiconductor heavyweight stocks to lock in profits, which narrowed the index’s upside significantly. On the day, retail investors and institutional investors respectively net sold 1.2177 trillion won and 1.3961 trillion won. (Jin Ten)