South Korean retail investors are contributing to dramatic swings in the share prices of some US-listed companies, as they take aggressive trading strategies long used in their domestic market to a booming Wall Street.
Known for their high-risk tolerance, herd behaviour and use of leverage, South Korean traders have piled into US markets this year, accounting for a significant slice of the trading in some of Wall Street’s most volatile stocks. Their holdings of US equities have nearly doubled this year to a record $170bn at the end of October, according to Korea Securities Depository data.
Many have been drawn to the resurgence in meme stocks this year, helping fuel a craze that first took hold during the Covid-19 pandemic.