As the South Korean stock market plunges, individual investors are re-buying leveraged single-stock products betting on a rebound in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Previously, individual investors were net sellers after South Korean regulations tightened at the end of July, but this month marked their first net buying. In the US stock market, funds have also poured into ETFs tracking semiconductor indices that offer returns of up to three times in a single day, exceeding 4 trillion won.
According to data from the Korea Exchange and Koscom ETF Check on the 25th, from the 1st to the 23rd of this month, individual investors net bought 14 leveraged single-stock products related to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, totaling 315.4 billion won. Of these, seven products related to SK Hynix saw net buying of 226.3 billion won, and seven products related to Samsung Electronics saw net buying of 89.1 billion won.
In July, individual investors net bought 14 single-stock leveraged funds, totaling 2.7728 trillion won. However, on July 31st, with tightening regulations (such as increased deposit requirements), they began selling these funds. In August and September, net selling amounted to 648.4 billion won and 497.9 billion won respectively. The market generally believes that the South Korean KOSPI index has fallen 18.83% this month, and stock prices are nearing their bottom, with individual investors betting on a stock market rebound.
Regarding overseas stocks, aggressive investment by individual investors continues. According to data from the Korea Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (CSDC), from September 1st to 22nd, South Korean investors made net purchases of US$4.8009 billion (approximately 6.3621 trillion won) in US stocks. Among these, the "Direxion Daily Semiconductor 3x Long Stock Exchange-Traded Fund (SOXL)," which tracks the US semiconductor index and achieves a three-fold daily return, saw net purchases of US$3.54764 billion (approximately 4.7041 trillion won), accounting for 73.9% of the total.
