South Korean regulators' measures to curb leveraged-ETF demand that recently
amplified market swings have sharply reduced trading in leveraged ETFs tied to
the country's two major chip firms. The KODEX single-stock leveraged ETF
tracking SK Hynix, one of South Korea's largest single-stock leveraged ETFs, saw
volume fell to 59.0 mln shares on Monday, the lowest since June 4; a Samsung
Electronics-linked leveraged ETF also logged its lowest volume since its
late-May launch. NH Investment Securities Korea equity sales assistant Peter
Park said speculative leveraged activity in major tech names has been suppressed
on both rallies and sell-offs: investors can sell existing positions freely, but
new purchases face high cash-deposit requirements, effectively ending retail
speculative leverage.
