Foreign investors have scooped up shares of Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliates so far this year, with their buying of those stocks accounting for 40 percent of the total net purchase, data showed Wednesday.

According to the main bourse operator Korea Exchange, Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors Corp. and two other affiliates were among the foreign investors’ basket of top 20 most-favored listed firms, taking up 5.6 trillion won (US$5.2 billion) of the combined net purchase of 14.3 trillion won.

Overseas investors bought a net 2.05 trillion won worth of shares in Hyundai Motor Co., the country’s top carmaker, while its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp., held a comparable figure of

2.04 trillion won.

They also bought a 1.1 trillion won worth of net purchase of Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea’s top auto parts maker. Foreign investors also purchased a net 444 billion won worth of No.2 industry player Hyundai Wia, the data indicated.

Hyundai Motor Group claimed nearly 90 percent of the domestic premium sedan market in September, industry data showed.

Meanwhile, Samsung Group, the country’s top conglomerate, accounted for 15.2 percent of the foreign investors’ combined net buying in the basket with 2.1 trillion won. Its electronics component affiliate Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. took the lead with a net purchase of 481 billion won, the data showed.

Three affiliates of SK Group, South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate, were also included in the basket of top 20 most-bought shares, taking up 14.7 percent of the net purchase.

On the other hand, institutions became net buyers in diverse sectors from technology to carmakers, and boasted a wider portfolio selection, the data showed.

Of the net purchases made among institutions’ basket of top 20 most-favored listed firms, affiliates of Samsung Group accounted for 27.5 percent, while LG Group took up 14.9 percent. GS Group and Hyundai Motor Group held a comparable figure of 9.2 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively.

Institutions purchased a net 1.6 trillion won worth of shares in Samsung Electronics Co., followed by NHN Corp., the country’s leading Internet portal service provider, with 1.1 trillion won. LG Electronics held a comparable figure of 949 billion won, the data added. (Yonhap News)