Foreign investors drive Korea's latest stock rally

[Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi closed Thursday at a fresh high helped by a strong return of offshore investors on expectations for a continued rally in stocks in line with a revived appetite for U.S. stocks on anticipated aggressive stimulus drive by the new U.S. administration under President Joe Biden.

The main Kospi finished Thursday at 3,160.84, crossing the 3,150 mark for the first time in nine sessions. Foreigners drove the latest rally, buying a net 363.3 billion won ($329.7 million) worth of stocks.

The index fell 0.64 percent to 3,140.63 on Friday.

Retail investors, who had hoarded 13 trillion won worth of stocks so far this year, sold off 62.5 billion won on Thursday. Institutions net sold 292.7 billion won.

“The inauguration of the U.S. Biden administration has renewed the appetite for risky assets, lifting the appeal of the Korean market,” Seo Jeong-hoon, analyst at Samsung Securities, explained.

Foreigners’ picks on Thursday were mostly platform and green stocks.

They net bought 146.4 billion won worth of shares in Naver Corp., operator of Korea’s largest internet portal site, cheering

[Graphics by Song Ji-yoon]

Naver’s latest decision to fully acquire the Toronto-based self-publishing website Wattpad for 653 billion won.

Foreigners also bought a net 78.1 billion won in Hyundai Motor Corp. with hydrogen push and 60.6 billion won in SK Chemicals Co. on Thursday.

Samsung Electronics Co., the country’s largest stock by market cap, closed the day up 1.03 percent after reports surfaced that it clinched a deal to produce chips for Intel.

Experts believe the Biden administration’s aggressive economic stimulus and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy will continue to fuel the stock market frenzy. In a Morgan Stanley survey of billionaire investors, 64 percent of the respondents predicted a strong first quarter for stocks.

Janet Yellen, the nominee for U.S. Treasury secretary, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell have both made it clear that interest rates would not be going up any time soon, a prospect that could further invigorate stock markets, said Huh Tae-oh, analyst at Samsung Futures.

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