Investor deposits, which are idle funds waiting to enter the stock market, recorded the second-largest amount on record. Many investors appear to be stepping back to watch the market ahead of the long Chuseok holiday.
According to the Korea Financial Investment Association on the 30th, investor deposits as of the previous day stood at 76.8085 trillion won. It was the second largest since June 1998, when the relevant statistics began to be compiled.
The all-time high for investor deposits was 77.9018 trillion won on May 3, 2021. If it grows by about 1.1 trillion won, it will set a new record.
The size of investor deposits moved sideways in the 50 trillion won range from January to May this year. From June, as the Kospi and Kosdaq indexes trended upward, it grew quickly, and starting this month it has stayed in the 70 trillion won range.
It appears largely due to individuals who had been stuck during the domestic market's prolonged sideways movement taking profits for now and not returning to buy stocks again.
Individuals posted net sales of 544.3 billion won in the Kospi and Kosdaq markets in 6th, followed by a selling advantage of 6.6578 trillion won in July. In August, they net bought about 3 billion won, but starting this month they again moved to "sell," unloading more than 1 trillion won.
Whether investor deposits will be used to buy stocks will likely be determined by the domestic market's trajectory after the Chuseok holiday. Optimism prevails, with securities firms presenting the upper end of the year-end Kospi at around the 3,700 level.
Variables include the U.S. economy, Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations, and the growth trend of domestic corporations' earnings. Yang Il-woo, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, "During the earnings season for major U.S. information technology (IT) companies and financial companies, we expect the Korean stock market to look for a rebound opportunity," adding, "It is also positive that the earnings forecasts for the second half for Korean corporations are improving across several industries."