Korea · KOSPI + KOSDAQ close of 2026-10-08 1,850 names Research findings →

Foreign ownership monitor

Descriptive, not a signal. This project tested whether daily foreign ownership predicts returns and found it does not: the effect sits in names too thin to trade, reverses by twenty days, dies after costs, and domestic institutional flow is twice as persistent. Read these tables as context for what has already happened, never as a reason to buy or sell. The evidence is here.
Market-wide

Share of listed value held by foreign investors

ALL
37.30%
5d -0.41120d -0.6891y +5.87

1,850 names, weighted by market value

KOSPI
39.47%
5d -0.27520d -0.4241y +5.08

696 names, weighted by market value

KOSDAQ
12.08%
5d -0.10720d -0.2771y +1.25

1,154 names, weighted by market value

Concentration, 20 sessions
42.4%

of all net foreign buying went to the ten largest recipients; the top fifty took 76.4%, across 679 names bought and 6,602bn KRW gross.

KOSPI against KOSDAQ, 2024-07-11 to 2026-10-08
KOSPI KOSDAQ
10%20%30%40%24-0724-1125-0425-0826-0126-0526-1039.57%12.08%
Value-weighted, so the line follows where the money is rather than the average of small issuers. KOSDAQ sits far below KOSPI throughout: foreign capital in Korea is concentrated in the large-cap board.
Daily flow

Net foreign buying, last 60 sessions

KOSPI, KRW bn
020,0002026-07-10 +60bn2026-07-13 -199bn2026-07-14 -1,596bn2026-07-15 +1,737bn2026-07-16 +35,205bn2026-07-20 -1,697bn2026-07-21 +332bn2026-07-22 +866bn2026-07-23 +3,947bn2026-07-24 +2,587bn2026-07-27 -4,132bn2026-07-28 -2,342bn2026-07-29 -4,352bn2026-07-30 -380bn2026-07-31 +2,203bn2026-08-03 +8,236bn2026-08-04 -3,313bn2026-08-05 -1,089bn2026-08-06 +1,801bn2026-08-07 -3,686bn2026-08-10 -1,352bn2026-08-11 -1,127bn2026-08-12 -42bn2026-08-13 +3,659bn2026-08-14 +2,708bn2026-08-18 +3,326bn2026-08-19 +42bn2026-08-20 -4,251bn2026-08-21 +2,729bn2026-08-24 -540bn2026-08-25 -4,126bn2026-08-26 -4,998bn2026-08-27 -502bn2026-08-28 +605bn2026-08-31 -331bn2026-09-01 -620bn2026-09-02 -639bn2026-09-03 -2,447bn2026-09-04 +334bn2026-09-07 +1,392bn2026-09-08 +3,477bn2026-09-09 +649bn2026-09-10 -445bn2026-09-11 -2,764bn2026-09-14 -2,300bn2026-09-15 -3,690bn2026-09-16 -1,805bn2026-09-17 -1,210bn2026-09-18 -3,037bn2026-09-21 +1,078bn2026-09-22 +488bn2026-09-23 +199bn2026-09-28 -260bn2026-09-29 -3,525bn2026-09-30 -3,170bn2026-10-01 -2,411bn2026-10-02 +544bn2026-10-06 +244bn2026-10-07 -814bn2026-10-08 -2,962bn07-1007-2708-1008-2509-0809-22
KOSDAQ, KRW bn
-1,00001,0002026-07-10 +25bn2026-07-13 -142bn2026-07-14 -339bn2026-07-15 -400bn2026-07-16 +36bn2026-07-20 -312bn2026-07-21 -30bn2026-07-22 -137bn2026-07-23 -56bn2026-07-24 +306bn2026-07-27 -219bn2026-07-28 -151bn2026-07-29 +145bn2026-07-30 +252bn2026-07-31 +253bn2026-08-03 +278bn2026-08-04 -113bn2026-08-05 -442bn2026-08-06 -418bn2026-08-07 -254bn2026-08-10 -304bn2026-08-11 +284bn2026-08-12 -520bn2026-08-13 -116bn2026-08-14 -136bn2026-08-18 +211bn2026-08-19 -6bn2026-08-20 -49bn2026-08-21 +73bn2026-08-24 -358bn2026-08-25 +413bn2026-08-26 +977bn2026-08-27 -144bn2026-08-28 +355bn2026-08-31 -71bn2026-09-01 -41bn2026-09-02 -194bn2026-09-03 +128bn2026-09-04 -160bn2026-09-07 +431bn2026-09-08 -41bn2026-09-09 +131bn2026-09-10 +373bn2026-09-11 -1,015bn2026-09-14 -266bn2026-09-15 -56bn2026-09-16 +11bn2026-09-17 +128bn2026-09-18 +71bn2026-09-21 -63bn2026-09-22 -31bn2026-09-23 +69bn2026-09-28 -41bn2026-09-29 +124bn2026-09-30 -118bn2026-10-01 -119bn2026-10-02 +266bn2026-10-06 -258bn2026-10-07 +142bn2026-10-08 -366bn07-1007-2708-1008-2509-0809-22

The daily change in shares held, valued at that day's close. Because it is a change in holdings rather than reported trading, it also moves on lending, custody transfers and in-kind index creation — the two series agree with the exchange's own net-buying figure at only 0.10, which is an open question in this project.

Cross-section

How wide is the move?

-1000100200300-1.75 to -1.50pp — 137 names-1.50 to -1.25pp — 33 names-1.25 to -1.00pp — 63 names-1.00 to -0.75pp — 90 names-0.75 to -0.50pp — 163 names-0.50 to -0.25pp — 263 names-0.25 to +0.00pp — 356 names+0.00 to +0.25pp — 337 names+0.25 to +0.50pp — 144 names+0.50 to +0.75pp — 83 names+0.75 to +1.00pp — 39 names+1.00 to +1.25pp — 41 names+1.25 to +1.50pp — 17 names+1.50 to +1.75pp — 84 names-1.6-1.1-0.6-0.1+0.4+0.9+1.420-day change in foreign ownership, pp
Every name in the universe, binned by its 20-day change in foreign ownership. A tall centre means the market moved as a whole rather than a handful of issuers being repositioned; fat tails mean the opposite.
Riding the flow

If you had bought what they bought

Every h sessions: rank the universe by its 20-session change in foreign ownership, buy the top 10% equal-weighted, hold h sessions, sell. Returns are EXCESS of the equal-weighted universe; costs charge 0.50% per round trip including the 0.20% sales tax. Figures are basis points per round trip.

holdtradesgross bpnet bpt (NW)hitnet /yr
1d523+0.7-49.3+0.2651%-123.3%
5d104+1.7-48.3+0.1249%-24.2%
20d26+0.6-49.4+0.0150%-6.2%
Cumulative excess return, 5-session rebalance
before costsafter costs
-60%-40%-20%0%20%24-0824-1225-0425-0826-0126-0526-091.74%-50.26%
Flat-to-down after costs is the expected shape: the research page measured no tradable edge here, and this chart re-checks that verdict on every refresh.
Last 5 sessions

Largest ownership changes

Accumulated

Ranked by change in percentage points held.

codenamemktΔppADV daysKRW bnheld %
069540빛과전자KOSDAQ+3.874+0.2+214.65
469480IBKS제24호스팩KOSDAQ+3.637+1.4+14.36
003160디아이KOSPI+3.048+1.4+3619.72
417840저스템KOSDAQ+2.651+0.6+138.82
056080유진로봇KOSDAQ+2.328+1.9+1122.63
316140우리금융지주Woori Financial GroupKOSPI+2.318+4.5+55352.20
224060더코디KOSDAQ+2.204+0.1+02.20
322000HD현대에너지솔루션KOSPI+2.059+0.9+348.03
103230에스앤더블류KOSDAQ+2.015+1.9+04.57
098460고영KOSDAQ+2.014+1.1+5231.86
090460비에이치KOSPI+2.013+0.8+1512.49
011080형지I&CKOSDAQ+1.873+0.2+02.41
498390한화플러스제5호스팩KOSDAQ+1.871+0.7+01.88
394800쓰리빌리언KOSDAQ+1.868+0.6+49.73
036540SFA반도체KOSDAQ+1.839+0.4+3514.41

Reduced

Same measure, the other end of the ranking.

codenamemktΔppADV daysKRW bnheld %
035000HS애드KOSPI-5.318-4.9-69.86
101490에스앤에스텍KOSDAQ-3.589-2.9-409.82
007110일신석재KOSPI-3.383-48.4-70.00
274090켄코아에어로스페이스KOSDAQ-2.803-0.2-41.12
033160엠케이전자KOSDAQ-2.714-0.8-1310.93
058470리노공업KOSDAQ-2.681-2.3-18025.45
065440이루온KOSDAQ-2.639-1.0-17.99
089970브이엠KOSDAQ-2.232-0.9-3810.03
038500삼표시멘트KOSDAQ-1.979-1.0-153.09
003780진양산업KOSPI-1.818-1.1-12.70
290650엘앤씨바이오KOSDAQ-1.783-2.2-2722.60
105740디케이락KOSDAQ-1.774-0.4-24.28
062970한국첨단소재KOSDAQ-1.751-0.1-20.00
099320쎄트렉아이KOSDAQ-1.714-2.7-139.30
338220뷰노KOSDAQ-1.445-0.5-21.56
Last 20 sessions

Largest ownership changes

Accumulated

Ranked by change in percentage points held.

codenamemktΔppADV daysKRW bnheld %
036540SFA반도체KOSDAQ+8.867+2.0+16914.41
051160지어소프트KOSDAQ+6.406+1.4+725.25
092870엑시콘KOSDAQ+5.460+2.4+389.56
064290인텍플러스KOSDAQ+5.441+2.2+435.72
098460고영KOSDAQ+5.027+2.7+12931.86
096530씨젠KOSDAQ+5.004+4.4+5023.74
417840저스템KOSDAQ+4.301+1.0+218.82
001820삼화콘덴서KOSPI+4.205+0.4+699.48
003160디아이KOSPI+4.201+1.9+5019.72
089030테크윙KOSDAQ+4.145+2.3+8521.54
069540빛과전자KOSDAQ+3.857+0.2+214.65
214450파마리서치KOSDAQ+3.592+3.4+11313.65
058450한주에이알티KOSDAQ+3.586+1.0+08.33
469480IBKS제24호스팩KOSDAQ+3.534+1.4+14.36
078340컴투스KOSDAQ+3.526+4.3+1513.36

Reduced

Same measure, the other end of the ranking.

codenamemktΔppADV daysKRW bnheld %
251270넷마블KOSPI-13.285-15.8-37214.06
035000HS애드KOSPI-13.111-12.0-149.86
079940가비아KOSDAQ-8.801-11.8-4634.14
274090켄코아에어로스페이스KOSDAQ-8.175-0.7-131.12
097955CJ제일제당 우KOSPI-6.879-8.9-1026.70
058470리노공업KOSDAQ-6.540-5.7-43825.45
042370비츠로테크KOSDAQ-6.396-1.0-181.78
089970브이엠KOSDAQ-6.364-2.7-11110.03
000990DB하이텍KOSPI-5.927-3.8-35824.11
354320알멕KOSDAQ-5.765-2.5-212.89
100590머큐리KOSDAQ-5.272-0.5-51.50
425040티이엠씨KOSDAQ-5.256-1.2-180.72
028300HLBKOSDAQ-4.950-5.6-30113.39
009620삼보산업KOSDAQ-4.906-30.8-40.00
126340비나텍KOSDAQ-4.733-2.3-307.22
Statutory limits

Closest to the foreign ownership cap

codenamemktlimit usedcapheld %
030200KTKT CorporationKOSPI100.0%49%49.00%
032640LG유플러스KOSPI83.5%49%40.91%
017670SK텔레콤SK TelecomKOSPI71.2%49%34.88%
003490대한항공Korean Air LinesKOSPI52.7%50%26.35%
015760한국전력Korea Electric PowerKOSPI51.1%40%20.43%
036460한국가스공사KOSPI44.5%30%13.36%
035760CJ ENMKOSDAQ21.9%49%10.72%
053210스카이라이프KOSPI12.2%49%5.98%
037560LG헬로비전KOSPI8.9%49%4.36%
020560아시아나항공KOSPI7.8%50%3.92%
089590제주항공KOSPI5.1%50%2.55%
036030케이티알파KOSDAQ2.8%49%1.36%
272450진에어KOSPI2.5%50%1.25%
040300YTNKOSDAQ1.9%10%0.19%
126560현대퓨처넷KOSPI1.3%49%0.66%

Only issuers whose foreign ownership is capped by statute appear here. Near 100% means foreign buyers cannot add without another foreign holder selling.