High-net-worth investors in South Korea ramped up purchases of semiconductor stocks — particularly Samsung Electronics — last month, while offloading nuclear and defense-related shares during heightened tensions surrounding the Iran conflict, data showed Sunday.
According to an analysis by Samsung Securities, based on the trading activity of clients with more than 3 billion won ($2 million) in assets, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix ranked as the top two net-bought stocks in March.
The shift marks a notable change from earlier in the year. In January and February, Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor were the most-bought stocks, but buying of Hyundai Motor dropped sharply in March, falling out of the top five, as investors concentrated on semiconductor heavyweights.
High-net-worth investors significantly increased their purchases of Samsung Electronics in particular. Net buying of the stock totaled 156 billion won in the first two months of the year, but reached 114.3 billion won in March alone. Including purchases of preferred shares, total buying exceeded 130 billion won.
The scale of accumulation also widened. While Samsung Electronics purchases were about 1.5 times those of the second-ranked stock in January and February, the gap expanded to 3.5 times that of SK hynix in March.
The buying trend suggests investors rotated into semiconductor leaders while taking profits in sectors that had rallied on geopolitical tensions and higher oil prices.
New entries among the top purchases in March included the Kodex Leverage ETF, which tracks twice the daily performance of the Kospi 200 index, indicating continued bullish expectations for the broader market despite geopolitical uncertainty.
Investors also actively bought the newly launched KoAct Kosdaq Active ETF, reflecting expectations for a rebound in the Kosdaq market.
On the selling side, Doosan Enerbility was the most heavily sold stock in March, followed by Hanmi Semiconductor, LG Chem and Hanwha Aerospace. The Kodex 200 Futures Inverse 2X ETF also ranked among top net-sold positions.
Analysts said the selling largely reflected profit-taking in sectors that had surged amid Middle East tensions.
“Defense and nuclear-related stocks showed relative strength as geopolitical risks intensified in March,” said Shin Seung-jin, head of investment information at Samsung Securities. “Investors appear to have taken profits in those sectors and rotated into semiconductor leaders such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.”
He added that the launch of a Kosdaq-focused active ETF in March also drew attention as an alternative to traditional index-tracking products.
silverstar@heraldcorp.com
