Shafaqna English- The sharp downturn in South Korea’s stock market is undermining a government initiative designed to encourage domestic retail investors—commonly referred to as “ants”—to invest locally. Instead, the market slump has triggered the largest exodus of capital into U.S. equities in six months, while simultaneously reigniting long-held concerns about the vulnerability of the Korean won.
Data from the Korea Securities Depository shows that retail buying of U.S. equities reached $4.6 billion in July. During the same month, the KOSPI benchmark suffered its largest monthly loss since the depths of the financial crisis that rocked global markets in 2008.
Source: Reuters