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 fall 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 Securitie

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 fall 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.