View of Korea Exchange. (Photo= Korea Exchange)

[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Minyoung] As fears of a U.S. economic recession abate, foreign investors have aggressively purchased over 1.8 trillion won worth of stocks on the KOSPI market over the past five trading days.

Recent portfolio changes by foreign investors prominently feature semiconductor and defense stocks. Analysts suggest that the buying spree reflects expectations for strong performance in the second half of the year.

According to the Korea Exchange, foreign investors, who had been net sellers for five consecutive trading days earlier this month, shifted to net buyers on September 9. As of the 16th, they had net bought 1.8151 trillion won worth of KOSPI stocks.

Notably, the scale of buying has been increasing. After returning to net buying on the 6th with 10 million won, foreign purchases surged to 133.3 billion won on the 13th, 391.7 billion won on the 14th, and 1.2144 trillion won on the 16th. This rapid expansion in buying coincides with the recovery of the U.S. stock market and an easing of recession concerns.

The recovery in the stock market has also led to a shift in foreign investment preferences. Foreign investors have resumed buying stocks of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which they had previously been avoiding. Since September 9, they have net bought 898.5 billion won worth of Samsung Electronics and 771.2 billion won worth of SK Hynix. The stock prices of these companies have rebounded significantly, with Samsung Electronics up 9.26% and SK Hynix up 22.22%, surpassing the index's rise of 5.56%.

Defense stocks have also been added to foreign portfolios. Despite the recent market downturn, buying in this sector has persisted. Hanwha Aerospace has received the highest net purchases among defense stocks, totaling 67.9 billion won, continuing its buying streak since September 7. Hyundai Rotem has also seen net purchases of 37.6 billion won, making it one of the top ten net-buy stocks among foreigners.

 

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