InvestNot yet confirmed elsewhere1 publisher2 min readPublished
KOSPI sheds 5.39% in three sessions despite Samsung's record 107.4 trillion won profit
Foreign investors sold a net 6.47 trillion won of Korean shares in three sessions, led by SK hynix at 3.64 trillion, as the KOSPI closed at 6,625.93. With the 55 trillion won Samsung and SK hynix buybacks ending, US CPI on the 14th and PPI on the 15th will show whether yields or flows are driving the index.
The Investor · Invest desk
Bar chart of net flows by investor group over three sessions last week: foreigners sold a net 6.47 trillion won, institutions sold a net 2.39 trillion won, individuals bought a net 6.36 trillion won, and other corporations bought a net 2.48 trillion won.
Net buying (+) or selling (-), main board, three sessions last week In trillion won
| Item | Value | Claim |
|---|---|---|
| Foreigners | −6.47 trillion won | 5 |
| Institutions | −2.39 trillion won | 7 |
| Individuals | 6.36 trillion won | 7 |
| Other corporations | 2.48 trillion won | 11 |
What happened
- Samsung disclosed its preliminary quarterly profit on the 8th; at 782.5% growth, the year-earlier quarter was roughly 12.2 trillion won.
- Samsung's buyback finished on the 6th. SK hynix is through most of its program and close to the end of it as well.
- Securities analysts forecast a KOSPI range of 6,600 to 7,100 for this week.
Why it matters
- constraint The companies' own bid is leaving a market where foreigners are net sellers. The next foreign sale will meet demand without the cushion the buybacks supplied.
- contradiction The report calls the buyback end this week's biggest supply-demand variable. Samsung's program, though, finished on the 6th, inside the week of the fall, and part of that variable may already be in the price.
- exposure SK hynix drew about 4.1 times the foreign selling Samsung did while its buyback was still running. Its holders carry the most risk once the program stops.
- decision The forecast range runs from 0.4% below last week's close to 7.2% above it. A buyer adding before the CPI release is being asked to trust that lean toward rebound.
The 8th is the cleanest test of the earnings case. The KOSPI fell 2.62% on the day Samsung disclosed its profit, according to en.sedaily.com, as investors used the results to take profits and US Treasury yields sat at their highest since the early 2000s [4]. That one session is about half of the week's 5.39% fall [15].
Flows tell more of it. SK hynix and Samsung took 4.52 trillion won of the foreign selling, or 69.9% of the total [17]. Foreigners and institutions together sold a net 8.86 trillion won over the three sessions, and individuals and other corporations together bought 8.84 trillion [18]. The analysts cited in the report, none of them named, credit the other-corporation buying, companies purchasing their own shares, with holding the KOSPI's floor against foreign selling [9].
We think flows outweighed earnings last week, or rather that the end of corporate buying did, though the source cannot separate that from rates. The same report's analysts expect soft CPI and PPI prints, with employment slowing, to pull Treasury yields down and ease pressure from oil prices and the won [13]. The CPI is due on the 14th and the PPI on the 15th [12]. If yields fall and the index climbs back toward last week's 7,003.74 close [14] while foreigners keep selling, rates explain the week and the buyback end is a footnote. If yields fall and the index stays near 6,600 as SK hynix's program finishes, the flow case stands. The report's experts say that without the buybacks shares will be more directly exposed to foreign and institutional flows and to earnings [27].
Valuation sits under both arguments. The index trades at 5.26 times 12-month forward earnings [22], and some of the analysts the report cites say 6 times would support 7,700 [23]. Scaling the current close by 6 over 5.26 gives about 7,558 [24], so 7,700 also assumes forward earnings estimates rise roughly 1.9% [25].
What to watch
- US CPI on the 14th and PPI on the 15th: whether Treasury yields fall and the KOSPI climbs back toward 7,003.74 while foreigners keep selling.
- Net buying by other corporations once SK hynix finishes its buyback, against the 2.48 trillion won of last week's three sessions.
- Daily foreign net selling in SK hynix after its program ends, against the 3.64 trillion won sold last week.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence65
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
The KOSPI closed last week at 6,625.93, down 377.81 points, or 5.39%, from the previous week, according to the Korea Exchange.
- [2]
The index failed to escape the slide over just three trading sessions following the National Foundation Day holiday.
- [3]
Samsung Electronics' preliminary third-quarter operating profit, disclosed on the 8th, was 107.4 trillion won, up 782.5% from a year earlier and a quarterly record.
- [4]
The KOSPI fell 2.62% on the 8th as selling treated the strong results as a profit-taking opportunity, combined with the burden of US Treasury yields at their highest since the early 2000s and a wait-and-see mood ahead of the Hangeul Day holiday.
- [5]
Foreign investors sold a net 6.47 trillion won on the main board over the three sessions last week.
- [6]
Foreign selling concentrated on SK hynix (3.64 trillion won) and Samsung Electronics (883.9 billion won).
- [7]
Institutions sold a net 2.39 trillion won over the period, while individuals were the only net buyers, at 6.36 trillion won.
- [8]
Share buybacks by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix totaled 55 trillion won, and their end is the biggest supply-demand variable for the domestic market this week.
- [9]
Analysts say large-scale buying by other corporations purchasing their own shares was behind the KOSPI's ability to hold its floor amid heavy foreign selling.
- [10]
Samsung Electronics completed its buyback on the 6th; SK hynix has passed the bulk of its program and is also winding down.
- [11]
Net buying by other corporations slowed sharply to 2.48 trillion won over the three sessions last week.
- [12]
The US September consumer price index is scheduled for the 14th, and the US September producer price index and retail sales follow on the 15th.
- [13]
Securities analysts expect that if the CPI and PPI point to price stability amid slowing employment data, easing concerns over further tightening could bring US Treasury yields down and relieve pressure from oil prices and the won.
- [14]
The KOSPI's close the week before was about 7,003.74.
- [15]
The 2.62% fall on the 8th is about half of the week's 5.39% fall.
- [16]
A 782.5% rise to 107.4 trillion won implies a year-earlier quarterly operating profit of roughly 12.2 trillion won.
- [17]
SK hynix and Samsung together took about 4.52 trillion won of foreign selling, or 69.9% of the 6.47 trillion won total.
- [18]
Foreigners and institutions together sold a net 8.86 trillion won, while individuals and other corporations together bought 8.84 trillion won.
- [19]
Net buying by other corporations covered about 38.3% of foreign net selling.
- [20]
SK hynix drew about 4.1 times as much foreign selling as Samsung Electronics.
- [21]
Securities analysts forecast a KOSPI range of 6,600 to 7,100 this week.
ReportedContestedSource: Securities analysts cited by en.sedaily.com2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [22]
The KOSPI's 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio stands at 5.26 times, near a historic low.
ReportedContestedSource: en.sedaily.com2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [23]
Some analysts say applying a forward P/E of just 6 times would allow a recovery to the 7,700 level.
ReportedContestedSource: Some analysts cited by en.sedaily.com2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [24]
Holding forward earnings constant, a move from 5.26 to 6 times forward P/E on the 6,625.93 close implies an index of about 7,558.
- [25]
Reaching 7,700 at a 6 times multiple also requires forward earnings estimates to rise about 1.9%.
- [26]
The 6,600 to 7,100 forecast range runs about 0.4% below last week's 6,625.93 close and about 7.2% above it.
- [27]
Experts say that once the buyback support is removed, share prices will be more directly exposed to shifts in foreign and institutional flows and to the strength of corporate earnings.
Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- en.sedaily.comKOSPI Loses Buyback Support as U.S. Inflation Data Looms
1 article · October 11, 2026
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