Individual investors have made net purchases of more than 200 trillion won in the domestic stock market so far this year.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on Aug. 9, from Jan. 1 to July 31, individual investors' total net purchases came to 201.8503 trillion won.
This is the purchase amount that combines listed stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the main board and the KOSDAQ market across the Korea Exchange (KRX) and the alternative trading system (ATS) NextTrade.
After surpassing 100 trillion won (107.003 trillion won) on May 15, individual net purchases nearly doubled in less than three months.
By market, through the end of July this year, individuals made net purchases of 104.5453 trillion won on the main board. In contrast, they offloaded 10.3365 trillion won on the KOSDAQ market. On the alternative trading system NextTrade, they made net purchases of 36.9451 trillion won, and in the ETF market, 70.6964 trillion won.
As of the end of July this year, the scale of individual net purchases has surged more than 15 times compared with the net purchases in the same period a year earlier (1.31631 trillion won). Buying has continued this month. As of the 7th, cumulative net purchases had increased to a total of 214.1490 trillion won.
Caution is being raised over whether individual investors can continue to provide a floor for the market. Citi Global Markets Securities estimated in a report last month that individuals incurred losses of about $38.7 billion (about 54.8611 trillion won) from leveraged bets on single stocks from their peaks. It is also assessed that domestic investors who flocked to the U.S. stock market over the past two months racked up losses approaching 50 trillion won.
Indicators of individuals' purchasing power are also on the decline. Investor deposits nearly reached 140 trillion won on June 4, but had fallen to around 104 trillion won as of the 4th of this month. The balance of margin financing, a "debt investing" indicator, also approached 40 trillion won at 38.6328 trillion won on June 24 before dropping back below 30 trillion won.