Korean Single Stock Leveraged ETF Trading Volume Falls Below 10 Trillion Won

Data from the Korea Exchange shows that on July 27, the total trading volume of 16 single stock leveraged and inverse ETFs, based on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, dropped to 7.46 trillion won, a decrease of 27% compared to the previous trading day and over 30% compared to the average daily trading volume from the previous week. This accounted for 36.9% of the total trading volume in the Korean ETF market, with SK Hynix-related products making up about 70% of the trading volume. Market analysts believe that the cooling of trading activity is influenced by new financial regulations in South Korea. Starting from July 31, individual investors will need to hold more than 30 million won in cash as a base margin to purchase or increase holdings in single stock leveraged ETFs/ETNs. Regulatory authorities also plan to raise the minimum trading unit to curb high-frequency short-term trading.