BlockBeats News, July 14th. More than a dozen single-stock leveraged ETFs listed in South Korea at the end of May experienced a sharp decline, with prices of products tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plummeting. Among them, the $3.4 billion "SAMSUNG KODEX SK Hynix Single Stock Leveraged ETF" has fallen by about 45% since its listing, with a pullback of over 60% from its June peak.

The total assets under management of related products amount to around $3 billion. On Monday, SK Hynix recorded a record decline of 15%; it fell by over 8% during Tuesday's trading, with the KOSPI index dropping by 5% at one point and breaking below 6,500 points. Jung In Yun, CEO of Fibonacci Asset Management, stated that many retail investors regarded leveraged ETFs as long-term investment tools. The sudden plunge of the products has led to significant losses for them, potentially weakening their willingness and ability to continue buying semiconductor stocks.

Last month, South Korea's top financial regulator expressed regret over approving such products for listing, but retail trading enthusiasm has not significantly cooled down. Over the past month, leveraged and inverse exchange-traded products in South Korea have collectively attracted $3.8 billion in fund inflows, mainly flowing into single-stock products tracking SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. Jung In Yun expects that the regulatory authorities may enhance suitability requirements, risk disclosure, and investor education instead of completely halting the products.

On the same day, the South Korean government raised this year's economic growth forecast from 2% to 3%, believing that the demand for AI chips will continue to offset some of the drag from the Middle East conflict. It is also expected that this year's current account surplus will reach a record $290 billion.