South Korea's Individual Investors Lose Over 40% in Leveraged Single-Stock ETFs Today as Semiconductor Stocks Plunge

According to Korea Exchange data released today (July 28), individual investors in South Korean leveraged single-stock ETFs suffered devastating losses amid sharp declines in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The top 10 most-purchased stocks held by retail investors averaged losses of -28.51%, with leveraged products experiencing even steeper declines exceeding -40%.

KODEX SK Hynix Single-Stock Leveraged ETF fell to 9,930 won from an average purchase price of 17,712 won, while TIGER SK Hynix Single-Stock Leveraged ETF recorded -45.43% losses and KODEX Samsung Electronics Single-Stock Leveraged ETF posted -41.02% declines. The compounding effect of daily rebalancing in leveraged products magnified losses as semiconductor stocks continued falling.