S. Korean investors losing appetite for Tesla stocks

While South Korean investors made Tesla a top pick among US-listed stocks with combined holdings of $9.7 billion as of Aug. 10, many had begun selling off shares in the world’s largest electric car maker in June while turning to vaccine-related stocks, including Moderna.

In June, South Korean investors sold $811 million worth of Tesla shares worthwhile purchasing $784.3 million, according to data compiled by the Korea Securities Depository.

It marked the first month since December 2019 in which there were more South Korean sellers than buyers of Tesla stock.

The trend continued in July with South Koreans selling Tesla shares amounting to $756.8 million, out sizing purchases of $716.1 million.

From Aug. 1 to 10, sales of Tesla stocks by South Koreans were equal to their purchases, both at $356.6 million.

South Koreans were also selling off Ark Innovation ETF, an exchange-traded fund product called popular for its 10 percent weighting in Tesla.

Since March, South Korean traders had divested $400 million worth of the flagship active ETF product from Ark Invest while purchasing just over $260 million during the same period.

South Korean investors purchased $430 million worth of Moderna stocks from July to Aug. 10, making it the fourth-largest US-listed stock after Tesla, Amazon, and Apple. Meanwhile, they sold $368 million worth of the said stock.

Consequently, Moderna’s stock price more than doubled over the last six months.

South Koreans also favored other vaccine stocks with Novavax and Pfizer making it in the top 50 list.

South Korean investors bought $32.1 billion worth of US-listed shares from June through Thursday while selling less than $30.4 billion.