Institutional Money Absent? KRX After-Hours Market One Month In, 90% of Trading Volume from Retail Investors

Odaily News: South Korea Exchange (KRX)'s after-hours trading market for all stocks has been running for one month. Market experts believe the mechanism has improved investor trading convenience and enabled the market to respond more promptly to after-hours information changes, but it also faces challenges such as an excessively high proportion of retail investors, insufficient liquidity, and the need for institutional improvements.

Data shows that in the first week of the after-hours market's launch (September 14-18), retail investors accounted for as much as 90.4% of trading volume by value, while foreign and institutional investors accounted for only 6.7% and 2.6%, respectively. Industry insiders are concerned that the imbalance in market participation structure has become a major issue. An investor structure overly skewed toward retail could lead to insufficient market liquidity and amplify individual stock price volatility, especially for small- and mid-cap stocks and popular thematic stocks. Some securities firm representatives suggest adjusting institutional investment rules and attracting more professional investors by lowering barriers for foreign participation. (EToday)