Kakao Pay Securities said on the 10th that despite various negatives last month, Nvidia ranked No. 1 among the stocks most bought by "seohak ants (individual investors in overseas stocks)."
According to an analysis by Kakao Pay Securities of last month's realized return rates and trading trends of users who traded overseas and domestic stocks through its platform, the overall average return rate for U.S. stocks last month was 6.5%, a slight decline from the previous month (7.8%).
In August, the most purchased stock by seohak ants was Nvidia (last month's realized return rate -2%). Despite a slowdown in data center revenue and negatives from China, it was analyzed to have confirmed its position as a leader in artificial intelligence (AI)–related names.
Also, helped by Ethereum's record-high rally as a virtual asset, ETHU (25%), an ETF that tracks twice the daily increase of Ethereum futures prices, and Bitmain Immersion Technologies (BMNR·26%), the world's largest Ethereum–holding corporation, rose into the top tier of purchases.
The average return rate of overseas "stock experts" who ranked in the top 10% of monthly return rates for three consecutive months fell to 47.5% last month from 53.1% in July.
An analysis of their investment picks showed a high proportion of growth stocks such as Tempus AI (34%), Tesla (8%), and IonQ (7%). At the same time, they appeared to have paid attention to volatility hedging, including the short-term Government Bonds ETF (SGOV).
The overall average return rate for domestic stocks was 3.3%, down 4.8% from July.
Behind the decline in return rates were semiconductor regulation risks and earnings uncertainty. Doosan Enerbility (-6%) took the top spot in purchases, but profitability concerns weighed despite securing a nuclear power plant order in the Czech Republic. Samsung Electronics (-2%) and SK hynix (-2%) also weakened due to the impact of U.S. semiconductor export controls to China.
Policy issues were also reflected. With news from the South Korea–U.S. summit of expanded investment in shipbuilding and defense, Daehan Shipbuilding (-7%) and Hanwha Aerospace (-11%) newly rose into the top ranks of purchases.
The average return rate of domestic "stock experts" fell to 35.9% from 37.6% in July. With shipbuilding and defense themes commonly reflected, LG Innotek (+8%) rose into the top tier of purchases on expectations of benefiting from the government's AI semiconductor policy.
They also invested in bio and new-growth sector names, including ◇ Peptron (+5%), ◇ Ecopro Materials (-1%), and ◇ ITCEN Global (-17%).
Kakao Pay Securities said, "August was a month when complex issues such as the Ethereum rally, AI expectations, and policy themes heated up the market," and added, "All investors reacted sensitively to themes, and stock experts showed a strategy of combining growth stocks with defensive assets."