Foreigners turn net sellers of S. Korean stocks for 15 sessions

Foreign investors have dumped South Korean stocks for 15 consecutive trading days, the longest streak logged since 2020, according to the bourse operator Sunday.

Foreigners offloaded a net 2.5 trillion won ($1.8 billion) on the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index from Sept. 18 to last Friday, according to the Korea Exchange.

Previously, the longest sell-off streak in the Kospi market recorded by foreigners was 30 consecutive trading days from March 5 to April 16 in 2020.

During the 15-day sell-off, foreigners dumped shares of Samsung Electronics Co., the No. 1 memory chipmaker in the world, the most by a combined 751.4 billion won.

Steel giant Posco Holdings Inc. came next at 521.2 billion won, followed by leading battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. at 334.4 billion won and leading chemical producer LG Chem Ltd. at 3.07 billion won.

"Foreigners' stock investment sentiment weakened on a rebound in U.S. Treasury yields and a strong dollar index," said Lee Kyong-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities Co. (Yonhap)