KOSPI sees 26 trillion won sold by foreign investors this month and KOSDAQ sees a net buy of 419.9 billion won
Foreign funds that have offloaded more than 26 trillion won on the KOSPI in March are showing a partial rotation into KOSDAQ growth stocks. (Photo captured from SBS TV)
Amid renewed war jitters surrounding the United States and Iran and the spillover from a steep decline in U.S. technology stocks, the KOSPI fell more than 4% in early trading on March 27, sliding into the 5,200 range. With Samsung Electronics and SK hynix tumbling for a second day on the shock of Google’s ‘TurboQuant’, foreign funds that have offloaded more than 26 trillion won on the KOSPI this month are showing a partial rotation into KOSDAQ growth stocks where policy expectations remain alive.
According to the Korea Exchange on March 27, the KOSPI opened at 5,300.61, down 2.93% (159.85 points) from the previous session, and then widened its decline to 5,222.34 as of 10 a.m. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix were down in the 4% and 5% ranges, respectively. The previous day, Samsung Electronics plunged 4.71% and SK hynix slumped 6.23%. Foreign investors were net sellers of 1.1656 trillion won (approximately $777 million) and institutions 240.9 billion won, leading the index lower, while individuals alone were net buyers of 1.3245 trillion won.
The domestic market was pressed by a dual headwind of Middle East risk and a tech-led slump. As U.S. President Donald Trump increased pressure on Iran, war fears resurfaced, and after Google unveiled its next-generation AI memory-efficiency algorithm ‘TurboQuant’, profit-taking swept across global semiconductor shares. Overnight in New York, major technology names including Nvidia, Micron and AMD plunged, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 4.8%.
Amid this shock, foreign funds reduced exposure to large-cap semiconductors on the KOSPI while selectively adding KOSDAQ names. From March 3 to 26, foreigners were net sellers of 26.4944 trillion won on the KOSPI, with net selling of Samsung Electronics at 13.7602 trillion won and SK hynix at 5.1729 trillion won, totaling 18.9331 trillion won for the two stocks alone. In other words, 71.5% of total KOSPI net selling was concentrated in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. By contrast, foreigners were net buyers of 419.9 billion won on the KOSDAQ.
The top KOSDAQ net-buy list by foreign investors makes the direction of flows clearer. Bio names such as Rznomics and PharmaResearch, robotics and automation names such as SPG and Koh Young, and secondary-battery materials names such as Ecopro BM ranked near the top. This has led to an interpretation that, instead of large-cap semiconductors that had led the KOSPI, foreigners are rebalancing portfolios toward KOSDAQ growth stocks where policy and supply-demand expectations remain intact.
Behind this shift in positioning lie the government’s KOSDAQ development policy and the expansion of the active exchange-traded fund (ETF) market. To revitalize the KOSDAQ market, the government is working to reflect KOSDAQ weightings in pension fund benchmarks and to expand financing for innovative companies. In addition, since March, a series of KOSDAQ active ETFs have been listed, widening the channels for capital to flow into growth stocks.
Yoon Young-sil
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