Eight out of 10 retail investors earned profits from Korean stocks in the first quarter, even as market volatility spiked amid the U.S.-Iran conflict. The gains largely reflect profit-taking on large caps such as Samsung Electronics (005930) and SK hynix (000660) during a rally led by semiconductor stocks.
According to Shinhan Securities on the 11th, 80% of retail investors who sold domestic stocks in the first quarter booked gains. The average profit among winning investors was 8.48 million won, while the 20% who posted losses saw an average loss of 4.96 million won.
Monthly average profits gradually declined from 6.92 million won in January to 5.94 million won in February and 3.98 million won in March, reflecting heightened market volatility triggered by the U.S.-Iran conflict. Losing investors also saw their biggest average loss of 4.49 million won in March.
By stock, Samsung Electronics delivered both profits and losses to the largest number of retail investors. Those who profited from Samsung Electronics earned an average of 7.14 million won, while losing investors averaged a loss of 1.73 million won.
After Samsung Electronics, the stocks that produced profits for the most investors were SK hynix (5.94 million won), Doosan Enerbility (034020) (2.06 million won), Hyundai Motor (005380) (3.41 million won) and Hanmi Semiconductor (042700) (2.54 million won). Behind Samsung Electronics, stocks that generated losses for the most investors included Hyundai Motor (1.37 million won), SK hynix (2.46 million won), Doosan Enerbility (590,000 won) and Hanwha Solutions (009830) (810,000 won).
On the Kosdaq market, Woori Technology (032820) delivered the largest average profit at 2.36 million won, followed by Ecopro (086520) (2.5 million won), Hurim Robot (090710) (1.4 million won) and Alteogen (196170) (2.09 million won). Stocks that produced losses for the most investors included Hurim Robot (700,000 won), Woori Technology (570,000 won), Ecopro (1.04 million won), Alteogen (2.58 million won) and Hyundai Movex (319400) (900,000 won). Returns on robotics, bio and secondary battery theme stocks diverged sharply depending on the timing of trades.
By age, older investors posted larger gains. Investors aged 70 and above recorded the highest average profit at 18.73 million won, followed by those in their 60s (10.11 million won) and 50s (7.32 million won). Investors in their 40s averaged 3.98 million won, while those in their 30s and 20s earned 2.21 million won and 1.43 million won, respectively. By gender, male investors' average profit of 7.39 million won exceeded that of female investors at 3.86 million won.
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