Goldman Sachs said in its latest South Korea market weekly that the KOSPI fell about 2% last week, even as foreign investors continued buying and Alphabet raised its expectations for AI capital spending, reinforcing the semiconductor demand narrative. According to Odaily, Goldman Sachs said foreign inflows were mainly concentrated in technology shares, while South Korea still faced medium-term capital outflow pressure.
The bank said foreign holdings in the semiconductor sector were near historical lows. It also said KOSPI’s expected earnings per share for the next 12 months was cut by 0.4%, with the auto sector facing the largest pressure from earnings forecast revisions.
On leverage, Goldman Sachs said South Korean retail margin balances fell from a peak of $2.5 billion to $2.2 billion, while leveraged ETF assets dropped from $53 billion to $26 billion. It said AI capital spending remains a major support for South Korean stocks, but lower earnings expectations, weak foreign positioning, and swings in risk appetite may continue to amplify short-term index volatility.
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