Seoul, Jan 1 (IANS): Foreign investors' net purchases of Samsung Electronics stocks reached an all-time high last year on rising expectations of a recovery in the semiconductor industry, bourse data showed on Monday.

Offshore investors scooped up a net 16.7 trillion won ($12.9 billion) worth of stocks of Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chipmaker, last year, according to the data by the Korea Exchange (KRX).

It is the largest foreign net buying of Samsung Electronics shares since the bourse operator KRX started to compile such data in 1999, reports Yonhap news agency.

It is also the first time in four years that foreigners turned to net buyers of Samsung Electronics, the largest stock in terms of market capitalisation on the main KOSPI bourse. They had remained net sellers from 2020-2022.

As a result, foreigners held 53.9 percent of the shares in Samsung Electronics in 2023, up 49.6 percent from a year ago.

"Thanks to the positive outlook for a turnaround in the chip industry, foreigners have bet on Samsung Electronics," said Na Jung-hwan, an analyst from NH Investment & Securities Co.

Stocks of Samsung Electronics rose for seven days in a row to close at a yearly high of 78,500 won Thursday, the last trading day of 2023.

Meanwhile, foreigners purchased a net 2.8 trillion won worth of stocks of SK hynix, the No. 2 memory chipmaker, last year, up from a net buying of 833 billion won in 2022.