The average yield of the ten most popular stocks among those retail investors here between Jan. 2 and Jan. 25 came to minus 1.40 percent, according to financial information provider FnGuide.

Only Samsung Electronics and SK hynix posted positive returns.

Samsung, the top cap on the Seoul bourse, rose 9.32 percent during the period.

The global chipmaker SK hynix also jumped 15.66 percent.

Samsung C&T was the second-most favored firm with a net purchase of 183 billion won ($157 million) but it dropped 0.40 percent.

In contrast, institutional traders made huge profits. The average yield of the top ten picks by them for the three weeks reached 11.63 percent.

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance was the only firm on the list that saw its share price descend.

Foreigners earned an average return of 3.20 percent from investment in their top ten choices during the period, while the benchmark KOSPI rose around 2 percent.

They bought a net 320 billion won worth of leading steelmaker POSCO stocks, which climbed 3.88 percent. (Yonhap)