Profit-taking in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix drives roughly 37 trillion won withdrawal A financial data screen at Hana Bank's dealing room in central Seoul shows the benchmark Kospi and Kosdaq indices, along with the won's value per dollar, shortly after the close of daytime trading on Friday. (Yonhap) Foreign investors offloaded a record 45 trillion won ($30 billion) worth of Kospi shares in May, marking the largest monthly sell-off on record, as they locked in gains from a sharp rally in the country's top chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.Overseas investors net sold stocks amounting to 44.71 trillion won on the benchmark Kospi in May, according to data from the Korea Exchange. The figure marks the largest monthly sell-off, surpassing the previous record of 35.75 trillion won set in March.Foreign investors were net sellers for 16 consecutive trading sessions from May 7 to Friday, marking the longest selling streak since the 17-session run of net sales between Feb. 10 and March 4, 2009, when the stock market was reeling from the aftermath of the global financial crisis.The record foreign sell-off is widely seen as a bout of profit-taking following the Kospi's sharp rally. The benchmark index gained 28.45 percent in May, adding roughly 2,000 points to close at a record high of 8,476.15 on Friday.Leading the rally were Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the country's semiconductor giants, whose shares surged 43.76 percent and 81.42 percent, respectively, during the month. Both stocks climbed to record highs in May, backed by strong retail demand.Yet the two stocks that drove the benchmark's gains were also the biggest targets of foreign selling.SK hynix topped foreign investors' sell list with net sales of 20.72 trillion won, while Samsung Electronics ranked second at 16.03 trillion won.Combined, the two chipmakers accounted for 82 percent of foreigners' total net selling on the Kospi.Among heavily sold stocks, Hyundai Mobis ranked third with net sales of 2.59 trillion won, followed by SK Square at 1.42 trillion won and Hyundai Motor at 1.32 trillion won.Market analysts attributed the large selling move to portfolio rebalancing, rather than a structural reduction in exposure to Korean equities."The selling reflects efforts to rebalance portfolio weightings after the rapid gains in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, rather than concerns over their fundamentals," said Lee Jae-won of Yuanta Securities.Meanwhile, foreign investors raised their stake in the secondary bourse Kosdaq in May.Offshore investors' net purchases on the Kosdaq in May reached a record 2.84 trillion won, surpassing the previous record of 2.8 trillion won set in July 2023.Analysts attributed the surge largely to growing expectations that Kosdaq-listed companies would benefit from the launch of the state-backed National Growth Fund. The fund is structured to direct a substantial share of its capital toward innovative Kosdaq-listed companies.On the Kosdaq, foreign investors' top pick was fabless startup Fadu, with net purchases totaling 437 billion won in May.It was followed by battery material-maker Ecopro BM at 155 billion won, drug maker ABL Bio at 125 billion won."Expectations have grown that the launch of the National Growth Fund will expand capital flows into advanced industries such as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, robotics, and aerospace," said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities."As a result, the Kosdaq, which has a higher concentration of growth stocks, has benefited more from the policy-driven momentum than the Kospi."