Samsung Electronics top stock pick in Feb.; SM ranks No. 4

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics was the top stock pick among investors in February, with the total trade volume of its stocks soaring to 16.17 trillion won ($12.3 billion) on the nation’s main bourse Kospi, according to data from the Korea Exchange on Wednesday.

The tech giant’s daily trade volume was 808.9 billion won on average last month.

Posco Chemical, a battery materials company that has recently inked a whopping 40 trillion won supply deal with Samsung SDI, had the second-highest trading volume of 5.02 trillion won, followed by Naver, SK hynix and Posco Holdings.

Despite their massive trade volume, their stock prices showed little changes over the past month.

Samsung remained at 60,000 won, while Posco Chemical decreased by 1.34 percent compared to a month ago. Naver and SK hynix saw 2.96 percent and 1.02 percent, respectively.

In the tech-heavy secondary bourse Kosdaq, battery-related stocks, including materials maker EcoPro BM, topped the trade volume last month. EcoPro BM alone saw 7.9 trillion won, with a daily average of 396.5 billion won.

In terms of trade volume, SM Entertainment, the Kosdaq-listed K-pop powerhouse, was ranked fourth among all listed stocks, reflecting the ongoing ownership dispute involving its crosstown rival Hybe and internet giant Kakao.

A total of 5.99 trillion won of SM stocks were traded last month, with its stock price jumping 45 percent.

Meanwhile, industry experts predicted that the benchmark Kospi would fluctuate within a band of 2,200 and 2,600 in March ahead of the US Federal Reserve's next policy meeting slated for March 21-22.

NH Investment & Securities predicted a fluctuation in the 2,260-2,600 band this month, citing stocks related to China’s reopening, secondary batteries, renewable energy, machinery and steel as its top picks this month.

“The current upward trend is likely to continue this month,” said Kim Yong-gu, an analyst at Samsung Securities, who also recommended China-related stocks as his top picks.