The Kospi and the won-dollar exchange rate are displayed on a board at Hana Bank's dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. The Kospi closed at 8,639.41 that day, down 162.08 points, or 1.84 percent, from the previous session — its first losing close since May 28. [Yonhap]
The Kospi and the won-dollar exchange rate are displayed on a board at Hana Bank's dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. The Kospi closed at 8,639.41 that day, down 162.08 points, or 1.84 percent, from the previous session — its first losing close since May 28. [Yonhap]

Even as domestic markets were rattled last week by heavy foreign selling, high-net-worth investors moved aggressively to buy semiconductor-related stocks.

The Kospi fell 3.72 percent and the Kosdaq dropped 6.73 percent for the week of June 1 to 5, according to Korea Exchange data released Sunday. The Kospi had climbed as high as the 8,800 level early in the week, driven by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, but a wave of profit-taking in the latter half sent it tumbling 7.28 percent in just two sessions to close at 8,160.59.

The semiconductor heavyweights that had led the rally bore the brunt of the selloff. SK Hynix fell for three consecutive sessions, losing 12.40 percent over that stretch, while Samsung Electronics dropped 8.74 percent over June 4 and 5. Foreign investors posted net selling of 19.3874 trillion won (about $12.7 billion) on the Kospi for the week, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix alone accounting for 11.7834 trillion won of that total.

Amid the pullback, wealthy investors stepped in to buy Samsung Electronics. According to Korea Investment & Securities, investors with average account balances of 1 billion won or more net purchased 84.85 billion won worth of Samsung Electronics shares in the week of May 29 to June 4, making it their single most-bought stock. The move reflected bargain hunting after weakness in domestic semiconductor shares triggered by a correction in US technology stocks.

Leveraged exchange-traded funds also drew significant inflows. The KODEX Samsung Electronics Single-Stock Leverage ETF ranked second with net purchases of 21.65 billion won, while the TIGER Samsung Electronics Single-Stock Leverage ETF placed eighth at 10.49 billion won. Including Samsung Electronics preferred shares, which drew 16.27 billion won, total net purchases across Samsung Electronics-related products reached 133.26 billion won.

For SK Hynix, buying was concentrated in leveraged ETFs rather than the common stock. The KODEX SK Hynix Single-Stock Leverage ETF ranked third with 19.64 billion won in net purchases, and the TIGER SK Hynix Single-Stock Leverage ETF placed seventh at 12.06 billion won. SK Hynix common shares, by contrast, did not appear among the top net-purchased stocks.

Beyond semiconductor names, wealthy investors also accumulated blue-chip stocks — POSCO Holdings led the way at 18.23 billion won, followed by Hyundai Mobis at 12.79 billion won, Hanwha Ocean at 8.13 billion won and SK Telecom at 7.02 billion won.


bbo@heraldcorp.com