A dealer walks to his desk at the Hana Bank dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Friday. [Yonhap]
A dealer walks to his desk at the Hana Bank dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Friday. [Yonhap]

South Korea's pension funds have resumed portfolio rebalancing this month and, on a monthly basis, have turned net buyers on the Kospi for the first time this year.

The "pension funds and others" category — which includes the National Pension Service — posted net purchases of 68.4 billion won ($46.5 million) on the Kospi from the start of the month through Friday, according to Korea Exchange.

The group had been net sellers every month in the first half of the year: 1.89 trillion won in January, 681.6 billion won in February, 764.8 billion won in March, 896.1 billion won in April, 2.16 trillion won in May and 2.34 trillion won in June.

Net selling days accounted for more than half of all trading sessions in the first half, but this month that figure has fallen to just six sessions. With five trading days still remaining in the month, analysts say that even if the funds revert to net selling, the scale is likely to remain modest.

SK Hynix was the top net purchase target this month at 425.8 billion won, marking the second consecutive month it has topped the buying list. SK Innovation ranked second at 224.7 billion won, followed by S-Oil at 174.4 billion won, DB Insurance at 109.4 billion won, Celltrion at 95.3 billion won and Korean Air at 89.9 billion won.

SK Square led net selling at 575.7 billion won, followed by Samsung Electro-Mechanics at 313.6 billion won, Samsung Life at 123.8 billion won, LG Innotek at 111.9 billion won and Samsung Electronics at 111.5 billion won.

Concerns had mounted that the National Pension Service's domestic equity rebalancing freeze — which ended late last month — would trigger a wave of selling of up to 74 trillion won beginning this month. Instead, the funds have maintained a net buying trend.

Some analysts say the shift may reflect recent supply-demand imbalances and a corrective phase in the domestic stock market.

Earlier, National Pension Service Chairman Kim Seong-ju pushed back against the sell-off fears, saying "large-scale selling over a short period is not possible." Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong also said the government would "closely monitor the management process to minimize market impact, even if rebalancing does occur."


keg@heraldcorp.com