South Korea Tightens Leverage Curbs, KOSPI Crashes 6% Overnight; Oil Surge Hammers Gold ETFs

According to South Korea's Financial Services Commission, on July 24, the country announced it would advance mandatory margin requirement increases for leveraged stock ETFs to July 31, raising the minimum deposit for single-stock leverage trading from 10 million won to 30 million won. The KOSPI index plunged over 6% intraday, with heavyweight stocks Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both falling more than 7%.

Data from the Korea Financial Investment Association showed that as of July 16, leveraged holdings had dropped to a three-month low, with outstanding margin loan balances declining 13% from June's peak to 33.4 trillion won. Meanwhile, escalating U.S.-Iran tensions pushed Brent crude past $100 per barrel, triggering inflation concerns and renewed rate-hike expectations. The dollar index hit three-week highs as gold ETFs declined sharply, with products tracking precious metals falling 5.3-5.36%.