Net purchases of U.S. stocks by individual investors reached $7.05 billion between July 1 and Aug. 27, according to the Korea Securities Depository, exceeding the 8.75 trillion won ($6.35 billion) they bought on the benchmark KOSPI over roughly the same period and running to about six times their 1.57 trillion won of net buying on the tech heavy KOSDAQ.
The two-month total surpassed 70 percent of the $9.87 billion these investors had bought across the entire first half, after net purchases of $4.64 billion in July were followed by a further $2.40 billion in August.
The exodus tracked a sharp reversal in Korean shares, which peaked at a record 9,114.55 on June 22 before tumbling toward the 6,000 line through July, even as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes ground steadily higher and offered a more compelling draw.
Leveraged semiconductor bets dominated the buying as the most-purchased security was the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares, or SOXL, drawing $3.01 billion — more than 40 percent of all U.S. stock purchases over the period.
Trailing SOXL were the American depositary receipts of SK hynix at $815 million, Alphabet at $647 million and SpaceX at $515 million, while investors dumped shares of Nvidia, Palantir, Micron and Microsoft.
Domestic idle capital thinned in step, as investor deposits parked for trading tumbled more than 33 trillion won to 98.92 trillion won on Aug. 26 from 132.47 trillion won on June 29, with much of the drained liquidity widely believed to have flowed into the U.S. market.
AJP Takeaways
• South Korean retail investors' net buying of U.S. equities reached $7.05 billion between July 1 and Aug. 27, 2026, exceeding their 8.75 trillion won of net purchases on the benchmark KOSPI and running to about six times their 1.57 trillion won on the KOSDAQ, according to the Korea Securities Depository.
• The two-month total surpassed 70 percent of the $9.87 billion these investors bought across the entire first half of 2026.
• The Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares, or SOXL, drew $3.01 billion, more than 40 percent of all U.S. stock purchases in the period.
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