Stock short selling amounts to $4.38 bil. in 1st week of resumption
Electronic signboards at a Hana Bank dealing room in Seoul show the benchmark KOSPI fell 23.64 points to 2,463.06 points, while the Korean currency weakened by 18.7 won to close at 1,448.3 won per dollar, Friday. Yonhap
Short selling activity in Korean amounted to 6.4 trillion won ($4.38 billion) in the first week after a more than a yearlong ban was lifted, the bourse operator said Sunday.
Last Monday, short selling was allowed for all listed firms following a suspension imposed in November 2023 after a series of naked short selling violations involving several global investment banks was discovered.
According to the Korea Exchange, short selling on the main KOSPI and secondary KOSDAQ markets averaged 1.28 trillion won per day, totaling 6.4 trillion won for the week.
The weekly figure marked a sharp rise from the daily average of 788.4 billion won tallied during a month just before the country banned the trading practice.
Foreign investors accounted for 90 percent of the short selling activity on the main KOSPI, while institutional investors took up 9 percent.
Last week, the KOSPI fell 3.62 percent to close at 2,465.42 points on Friday, and the tech-laden KOSDAQ also suffered a 0.92 percent drop to finish at 687.39.
Foreigners sold a net 5.86 trillion won over the one-week period, marking the largest weekly net selloff since August 2021. (Yonhap)