South Korea stock volatility eases after 40% Kospi slide
What's new: Margin debt fell to 27.4 trillion won, and tighter ETF rules cut trading in products tied to Samsung and SK Hynix.
The sharpest phase of South Korea's stock-market turmoil appears to be easing after a historic sell-off forced leveraged investors out and regulators tightened rules on risky exchange-traded funds. A volatility index for local shares has dropped to a two-month low after hitting a record 96.9 in June. The Kospi had fallen nearly 40% from its June high, while global funds sold more than $100 billion of South Korean shares this year. Retail investors were hit hard, with about 1 trillion won of forced liquidations in June and 993 billion won in July. Margin loans fell to 27.4 trillion won on Aug. 4, the lowest level of 2026, as new cash-deposit requirements for single-stock leveraged ETFs took effect on July 31.