Seoul, June 7 (IANS) More stocks listed on the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) have declined than advanced in recent weeks despite the market rally, the bourse operator said on Sunday, suggesting that investment is increasingly concentrated in a handful of heavyweight semiconductor stocks.

According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), an average of 210 KOSPI-listed stocks advanced, while 586 declined and the remainder were unchanged during the two-week period from May 26 through Friday.

The trend came even as major market heavyweights posted strong gains, reports Yonhap news agency.

Shares of top-cap Samsung Electronics Co. and its chipmaking rival SK hynix Inc. rose 13.72 percent and 14.32 percent, respectively, over the cited period.

On May 27, the KOSPI jumped 2.55 percent, but only 72 stocks advanced. In comparison, 713 stocks rose on May 22, when the KOSPI posted a modest 0.41 percent gain, according to KRX.

When the KOSPI closed 1.84 percent lower Thursday, 400 stocks advanced, outnumbering 389 decliners.

“The current market concentration cannot be explained solely by investor sentiment,” said Noh Dong-gil, an analyst at Shinhan Securities. “Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have evolved beyond market leaders to become common underlying assets across a wide range of financial products.”

The divergence has fuelled expectations that investors will continue to concentrate on a handful of top-cap chip leaders that are driving the KOSPI rally.

Meanwhile, South Korean retail investors sold over 1 trillion won ($641 billion) worth of overseas stocks in the first week of June, data showed on Sunday, suggesting their possible return to the local stock market amid record-breaking gains led by semiconductor shares.

Local retailers sold a net $793.67 million worth of foreign stocks from Monday through Friday, continuing their net selling streak that began in April, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).

The figure far surpassed the net selling of $469 million in April and approached the $939.77 million recorded in May.

If the trend continues through the end of this month, the net selling streak will extend to a third consecutive month for the first time since the April-July period of 2023.

—IANS

na/