Foreign investors snap up nearly 3 trillion won in Samsung, SK Hynix over two sessions

Foreign investors returning to the Korean market have zeroed in on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. After offloading more than 18 trillion won (approximately $11.8 billion) combined from the two stocks through June 10, foreign investors net purchased nearly 3 trillion won over the past two trading sessions. With the US-Iran peace deal adding to the appeal of domestic semiconductor heavyweights, markets are watching whether the Kospi can break through the 9,000-point mark.

According to Korea Exchange, foreign investors net purchased 2.2157 trillion won on the Kospi on Friday, ending a prolonged "Sell Korea" trend and swinging to net buying for the first time in 25 trading sessions. On Monday, as of 9:42 a.m., they had already net purchased 99.8 billion won on the Kospi.

The top picks for returning foreign investors were the country's two semiconductor giants. After aggressively selling Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shares earlier this month, foreign investors posted strong net buying in both stocks for two consecutive sessions — Thursday and Friday.

On Thursday, SK Hynix led all Kospi stocks in foreign net purchases at 552.3 billion won, followed by Samsung Electronics at 173.4 billion won, Samsung Electronics preferred shares at 117 billion won, and Hanmi Semiconductor at 43.6 billion won, with buying concentrated across semiconductor names.

On Friday, SK Hynix (1.2882 trillion won) and Samsung Electronics (971.5 billion won) again ranked first and second in foreign net purchases. Samsung Electro-Mechanics (408.4 billion won) came in close behind, spreading positive momentum across the broader semiconductor materials, components and equipment sector.

Foreign investors had sold approximately 11.8238 trillion won of Samsung Electronics and 6.9880 trillion won of SK Hynix through June 10, but the tide has now turned. In early Monday trading, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shares were up roughly 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

Brokerages have been raising their target prices for both companies, citing expectations that a structural memory chip supply shortage will persist for the foreseeable future. The upper end of target prices stands at 610,000 won for Samsung Electronics and around 4 million won for SK Hynix.

Noh Geun-chang, a researcher at Hyundai Motor Securities, said demand for memory chips is expected to keep growing beyond 2028 as "agentic AI" spreads across all application categories. Supply constraints — driven by longer factory construction timelines and equipment bottlenecks — will keep the market undersupplied through the first half of 2028, he added.

However, analysts caution that high volatility will persist for now, even amid the semiconductor sector's growth prospects and the US-Iran peace agreement. The won-dollar exchange rate hovering in the 1,500-won range remains a key headwind for foreign investor flows. The direction of global liquidity could also shift depending on the monetary policy message from the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting, analysts said, urging investors to stay attuned to macroeconomic variables.

Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said the Kospi this week will be shaped by factors including expectations for a final signing of the US-Iran truce, the June FOMC meeting, key US data such as May retail sales and industrial production, SpaceX share price movements, and whether foreign net buying in domestic stocks continues. She projected a weekly Kospi range of 7,800 to 8,700 points amid heightened volatility.

Han added that macro uncertainty had been the main rationale behind heavy foreign profit-taking in semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. "If the June FOMC and the final US-Iran negotiations are digested as neutral or better-than-neutral outcomes, it would be appropriate to keep open the possibility that foreign net buying will continue with some momentum," she said.