Korean Retail Investors Shift from Individual Stocks to Leveraged ETFs in September: Heavy Selling of Nvidia and SK Hynix

According to data from South Korea's securities information portal, between September 1 and 4, Korean individual investors significantly reduced their holdings in multiple U.S. semiconductor stocks while rotating into leveraged semiconductor ETFs. During this period, Korean retail investors net sold over $100 million worth of Micron, $68.61 million of SanDisk, $49.37 million of Marvell Technology, and $15.56 million of Nvidia. SK Hynix's ADR, which debuted on the NYSE in July, also saw net selling of $46.16 million during the same period, following cumulative net purchases of $811 million through the end of August.

Conversely, Korean retail investors net purchased $431 million of SOXL (Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares), which aims to deliver 3x the daily return of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Market analysts suggest that this "selling individual stocks, buying the sector" approach may reflect Korean retail investors reducing single-chipmaker exposure risk while continuing to bet on upside in the broader semiconductor sector. After the sharp rally in semiconductor stocks, some investors may be taking profits at the individual stock level while maintaining or even expanding their overall semiconductor exposure through leveraged ETFs. (Daum)