The closing figures for the Kospi and Kosdaq are displayed on a board at Hana Bank's dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Thursday, as the Kospi fell back below the 7,000 mark. The Kospi closed down 463.81 points, or 6.37 percent, at 6,820.60, while the Kosdaq fell 37.59 points, or 4.53 percent, to finish at 791.84. [Yonhap]
The closing figures for the Kospi and Kosdaq are displayed on a board at Hana Bank's dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Thursday, as the Kospi fell back below the 7,000 mark. The Kospi closed down 463.81 points, or 6.37 percent, at 6,820.60, while the Kosdaq fell 37.59 points, or 4.53 percent, to finish at 791.84. [Yonhap]

As the Kospi tumbled back below the 7,000 mark Thursday amid a sharp selloff in semiconductor shares — driven in part by an overnight plunge in SK hynix's American depositary receipts — top-performing investors tracked by Mirae Asset Securities were buying Alteogen and Samsung Electronics while offloading SK hynix.

According to Korea Exchange, the Kospi closed at 6,820.60 on Thursday, down 463.81 points, or 6.37 percent, snapping a three-session winning streak.

According to Mirae Asset Securities, as of 11 a.m. Thursday, high-return investors trading through the brokerage had net-bought Alteogen, Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electronics preferred shares — in that order — while net-selling SK hynix most heavily.

High-return investors are defined as the top 1 percent of Mirae Asset Securities' equity trading customers by investment return over the preceding month.

Alteogen, the top net-buy pick among these investors, was trading down 2.77 percent at 280,500 won ($188) as of 11 a.m. Thursday and ultimately closed 4.16 percent lower at 276,500 won.

Alteogen is the Kosdaq's flagship biotech stock, known for expanding technology-transfer deals with global pharmaceutical majors on the strength of its subcutaneous formulation conversion platform. Its share price has come under pressure recently after Samsung Bioepis secured its own SC formulation technology, raising concerns that Alteogen's competitive edge could be eroded.

Thursday's net buying is seen as bargain-hunting demand flowing into large-cap biotech stocks during a correction phase.

However, analysts in the securities industry argued that such concerns are overblown.

In a report issued Wednesday, Kim Seon-a, an analyst at Hana Securities, said Samsung Bioepis' technology is "a biosimilar replicating Halozyme's SC platform 'Enhanze,'" adding that it "will have little impact on Alteogen's technological competitiveness." She maintained a buy rating and a target price of 580,000 won on the stock.

Samsung Electronics was the second-largest net buy of the session.

Samsung Electronics shares traded down 8.32 percent at 256,250 won during the session before closing 8.77 percent lower at 255,000 won. Profit-taking in US semiconductor stocks overnight, combined with broader concerns about the chip industry's outlook, dragged the wider index sharply lower on the day.

Analysts said the top investors moved to buy Samsung Electronics on the dip as its losses deepened.

Samsung Electronics preferred shares also ranked third in net purchases, with buying interest drawn by their perceived undervaluation.

Samsung Electronics preferred shares closed down 10.42 percent at 172,000 won on Thursday.

Meanwhile, SK hynix topped the net-sell list for the session, followed by LG Energy Solution and Daeduck Electronics.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com