The Kospi opened flat Thursday before surging as semiconductor stocks including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix reversed course. The rally came after Samsung Electronics, in its second-quarter 2026 earnings call, forecast a deepening shortage of memory chips next year, lifting investor sentiment in an otherwise volatile market. The Kospi stood at 5,950.31, up 287.07 points from the previous session, as shown on the display board at Woori Bank's dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, that morning.
The Kospi opened flat Thursday before surging as semiconductor stocks including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix reversed course. The rally came after Samsung Electronics, in its second-quarter 2026 earnings call, forecast a deepening shortage of memory chips next year, lifting investor sentiment in an otherwise volatile market. The Kospi stood at 5,950.31, up 287.07 points from the previous session, as shown on the display board at Woori Bank's dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, that morning.

Foreign investors net sold 49.34 trillion won ($34 billion) worth of domestically listed shares in June, extending their "Sell Korea" streak to six consecutive months.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's monthly foreign securities investment report for June, foreign investors net sold 49.34 trillion won in listed shares while net investing 4.48 trillion won in listed bonds, resulting in a net withdrawal of 44.86 trillion won.

The net selling of domestic shares by foreign investors has continued every month since January. They net sold 50.98 trillion won on the Kospi while net buying 1.64 trillion won on the Kosdaq. The June figure of 49.34 trillion won followed net selling of 47.02 trillion won in May.

Despite the selling, the total value of foreign holdings in listed shares rose. As of the end of June, foreign investors held 2,908.64 trillion won in listed shares, up 56.3 trillion won from the previous month. Their share of total market capitalization stood at 36.4 percent.

Foreign holdings of listed bonds rose 1.2 trillion won from the previous month to 334.79 trillion won. Foreign investors have net invested in bonds for three consecutive months since April.

Combined foreign holdings of listed shares and bonds totaled 3,243.43 trillion won.

[Provided by the Financial Supervisory Service]
[Provided by the Financial Supervisory Service]

By country, foreign investors net bought shares from the Cayman Islands (7.3 trillion won) and France (6.1 trillion won), while net selling from the United Kingdom (32.2 trillion won) and the United States (23.2 trillion won).

By region, the United States held the largest share of foreign equity holdings at 1,222.3 trillion won, or 42.0 percent of the total. Europe followed at 30.9 percent, Asia at 14.1 percent and the Middle East at 2.1 percent.

In bond investment, Asia (3.3 trillion won), the Americas (1.7 trillion won) and the Middle East (100 billion won) all recorded net investment, while Europe saw a net withdrawal of 600 billion won.

Asia held the largest share of foreign bond holdings at 134.5 trillion won, or 40.2 percent, followed by Europe at 128.9 trillion won, or 38.5 percent.


moon@heraldcorp.com