Foreign ownership of Samsung Electronics tops 50 pc again

Seoul, July 20: Foreign ownership of Samsung Electronics has climbed back above 50 percent in the South Korean stock market, while retail investors favoured SK hynix this month, the main bourse said on Sunday.

In the first three weeks of this month through Friday, foreign investors bought a net 1.877 trillion won (US$1.34 billion) worth of Samsung Electronics shares, more than double their net buying of 713 billion won for all of last month, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX).

As of Friday, foreigners held a 50.19 percent stake in the chip giant, rising above the mark for the first time since April 24, when their ownership stood at 50 percent, reports Yonhap news agency.

On Thursday, Samsung Electronics shares rallied after the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of the company's Chairman Lee Jae-yong, affirming lower court rulings that cleared him of financial crimes related to a 2015 merger between Samsung affiliates that consolidated his control over the conglomerate.

However, foreigners offloaded 301 billion won worth of SK hynix stocks in the first three weeks, ending their two-month buying streak in the broader market.

SK hynix shares slumped after Goldman Sachs on Thursday downgraded the chipmaker to neutral from buy, citing a possible decline in high bandwidth memory (HBM) prices next year amid intensifying competition.

On Thursday, Samsung rose 3.09 percent to close at 66,700 won, while SK hynix fell 8.95 percent to 269,500 won.

Affected by foreigners' portfolio adjustments, Samsung shares have gained 12.2 percent so far this month, while SK hynix has dropped 7.9 percent.

Meanwhile, retail investors took the opposite approach, buying a net 1.23 trillion won of SK hynix shares and selling 2.31 trillion won of Samsung shares during the same period, according to the report.