South Korean retail investors see about 53 trillion won wiped out in two days as shares slump

BlockBeats reported on July 29, citing South Korean media, that the country's stock market extended its steep selloff into a second straight session. On July 28, individual investors were net buyers of more than 4.3 trillion won even as foreign investors sold heavily. Selling pressure accelerated on July 29, pushing retail participants into panic selling; net outflows reached 1.42 trillion won in the morning session alone, a sign that the previous day's buying is now being unwound at a loss. As of the morning of July 29 local time, the KOSPI was down more than 12% and the KOSDAQ had fallen over 8%, triggering circuit breakers in both markets for the first time on record. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix declined for a second day, erasing roughly 53 trillion won in combined market capitalization. Samsung Electronics lost 25.7 trillion won and SK Hynix shed 27.3 trillion won. Citibank estimates South Korean retail investors have accumulated losses of about $38.7 billion (around 56.3 trillion won) on leveraged ETFs. Margin balances held by South Korean investors have also fallen by more than 30 trillion won from their peak. In July, net purchases of U.S. stocks by South Korean investors jumped about 5.7 times month over month, pointing to a rapid shift of capital away from domestic equities and into overseas markets.