Seoul
Global chip supplier Samsung Electronics Co. was the most favored stock by foreign investors this year, while Hyundai Motor Co. was the target of a foreign selling binge, data showed Tuesday.
Offshore investors, who were net sellers in 2018, net bought 1 trillion won (US$836.9 million) worth of local shares this year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Exchange (KRX), the main bourse operator.
In the Jan. 2-Dec. 30 period, they net bought 3.87 trillion won worth of Samsung Electronics shares, the largest sum among local companies.
South Korea’s second-largest chipmaker, SK hynix, came next, with net foreign buying of 1.31 trillion won.
Foreign investors scooped up local chipmakers on hopes for a rebound in global chip prices, along with spreading optimism for further progress in the Sino-American trade tussle, although their business performance was generally lackluster in the face of a sharp decline in chip prices.
In the July-September period, Samsung Electronics saw its operating profit fall 55.7 percent on-year to 7.8 trillion won.
SK hynix also suffered a nose-diving 93 percent on-year drop in its operating profit to 472.6 billion won in the three-month period, its lowest since the second quarter of 2016.
Kakao Corp. was the third-most popular pick by foreign investors as they snatched up 863.3 billion won worth of Kakao stocks.—Yonhap/APP