Threw 2 trillion in stocks, bought 450 billion in futures: What is the foreigners' real intention? Is it a preview of a May crash? Nasdaq futures are rising, but were we tricked? | Hwang Yu-hyeon Team Leader

[#RealMarket] Threw 2 trillion in stocks, bought 450 billion in futures… What is the foreigners' real intention? "Is it a preview of a May crash?" Nasdaq futures are rising, but were we tricked? | Hwang Yu-hyeon Team Leader

Watch on YouTube ↗ | April 30, 2026 at 11:01 | 25:31 | 815 Money Talk (815머니톡)

Speakers

Hwang Yoo-hyun — Private Banker Team Lead, NH Investment & Securities

Summary

Hwang Yu-hyeon, PB Team Lead at Shinhan Investment & Securities, explains that the April 30 Korean selloff was driven by month-end rebalancing, pre-holiday risk aversion, Middle East uncertainty, and foreign selling rather than a confirmed sell-in-May event. He expects a possible early-May rebound if Middle East news stays calm but advises focusing on individual stock momentum and catch-up laggards rather than index bets. He remains constructive on power infrastructure, ESS/secondary batteries, ship-engine makers tied to data-center generators, and select semiconductor components, while warning that August-September is the real risk window and biotech sentiment is weak.

April 30 decline described as month-end and pre-holiday adjustment, not confirmed sell-in-May.
Foreigners sold Korean stocks but bought futures; Nasdaq futures rose after Korea closed.
May strategy favors laggards with earnings improvement and stocks in 20-day uptrends.
Power infrastructure, ESS/batteries, and ship-engine/data-center generator themes are highlighted.
Semiconductor peak-out is seen as premature; component and small/mid names are leading.
Consumer, travel, and chemical laggards like Samyang Foods, Hotel Shilla, and Lotte Chemical are cited as catch-up candidates.
August-September is flagged as the key risk window; biotech sentiment remains weak.

Ideas

Hwang Yoo-hyun Private Banker Team Lead, NH Investment & Securities 6:25

April selloff likely temporary month-end dip

The heavy foreign selling on April 30 was mostly month-end rebalancing, window dressing, pre-holiday risk reduction, and Middle East uncertainty rather than confirmation of a May crash. With futures buying and Nasdaq futures turning higher, if there is no bad Middle East news over the long weekend and the US market ends calmly, Korean equities should recover much of the drop in early May, with the real May market starting after May 6.

Hwang Yoo-hyun Private Banker Team Lead, NH Investment & Securities 8:37

May favors laggard catch-up with earnings

After April's sharp rally in leaders, the speaker expects May to favor lower or laggard stocks with improving earnings for catch-up. He cites this week's relative strength in Hyundai Motor and Korean robot stocks, and later names Samyang Foods, Hotel Shilla, and Lotte Chemical as areas that can attract flows if leaders rest, with reasons including bottoming consumer demand, foreign inflows, restructuring, and war-related reflective benefits.

Hwang Yoo-hyun Private Banker Team Lead, NH Investment & Securities 10:00

Data centers keep power infrastructure demand strong

Data-center expansion is creating bottlenecks and requires more power generation, ESS, and grid/electric infrastructure; Google's results indicated data-center bottlenecks and higher capex ahead. The speaker says Korean power infrastructure still has a long runway and cites strong power cable/equipment names such as Daehan Electric Wire, Hyosung Heavy Industries, LS, LS Electric, Sanil Electric, and HD Hyundai Electric; healthy pullbacks may let lower names catch up.

Hwang Yoo-hyun Private Banker Team Lead, NH Investment & Securities 11:42

Battery sector bottomed; ESS demand supports

The speaker says L&F and the entire Korean secondary-battery sector have turned the bottom, and ESS demand from data centers and power infrastructure gives the group further room; recent battery corrections are healthy rather than a trend break.

Hwang Yoo-hyun Private Banker Team Lead, NH Investment & Securities 16:33

Component and small-cap chip names lead

Within Korean tech and semiconductors, leadership has shifted toward component, substrate, and small/mid equipment/materials names. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, LG Innotek, and PSK Holdings have outperformed Samsung Electronics and SK hynix since late February or early March; the speaker sees this rotation as a developing trend that may continue into May.

Hwang Yoo-hyun Private Banker Team Lead, NH Investment & Securities 19:25

Ship-engine makers gain data-center generator multiple

Ship-engine makers have a new narrative: their engines can be used as generators for data centers, adding a new multiple and turning them into new leadership. Hanwha Engine and HD Hyundai Marine Engine had been ignored and sideways for about six months before re-rating; valuations are no longer cheap, but the new multiple signals they can remain leading stocks.

Hwang Yoo-hyun Private Banker Team Lead, NH Investment & Securities 22:30

Biotech sentiment is weak; avoid sector

The speaker says Korean biotech sentiment is very weak: investors tend to sell into positive disclosures, so the sector is unattractive until a major catalyst changes the mood. He distinguishes this from specific stocks that could break out on license-out news.

Hwang Yoo-hyun Private Banker Team Lead, NH Investment & Securities 23:00

LigaChem awaits license-out catalyst to break out

LigaChem Biosciences has been consolidating for about six months, similar to the pre-breakout pattern in shipbuilders. A license-out or comparable catalyst could gap the stock higher and change the trend, but because the timing cannot be predicted, the speaker treats it as a watch-list setup rather than an active buy.

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This 815 Money Talk (815머니톡) video, published April 30, 2026, features Hwang Yoo-hyun discussing EWY, 005380.KS, 003230.KS, 008770.KS, 011170.KS, Korean Power Infrastructure Sector, 001440.KS, 298040.KS, 006260.KS, 010120.KS, 062040.KS, 267260.KS, ESS (energy storage systems), 066970.KS, Korean semiconductor components/equipment sector, 009150.KS, 011070.KS, 300720.KS, 082740.KS, 071970.KS, Korean biotech sector, 141080.KQ. 8 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Hwang Yoo-hyun · Tickers: EWY, 005380.KS, 003230.KS, 008770.KS, 011170.KS, Korean Power Infrastructure Sector, 001440.KS, 298040.KS, 006260.KS, 010120.KS, 062040.KS, 267260.KS, ESS (energy storage systems), 066970.KS, Korean semiconductor components/equipment sector, 009150.KS, 011070.KS, 300720.KS, 082740.KS, 071970.KS, Korean biotech sector, 141080.KQ