Retail investors hit borrowing limits at South Korean brokerages, think tank says

SEOUL - Leveraged stock investments by South Korean retail investors have reached their limits set at local brokerage firms as the country's world-beating stock market rally stretches borrowing capacity, a think tank said on Wednesday.

"There are caps at each brokerage firm, which are being strictly regulated. The caps have been reached at each brokerage firm, so it is difficult for retail investors to borrow more from brokerage firms for investment," President of the Korea Capital Market Institute Kim Sei-wan told press conference.

The KOSPI has risen 83% so far this year, after rising 76% last year, emerging as the world's best performer in an AI-driven rally and drawing huge inflows of retail investment in domestic chipmaker stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Retail investments in the KOSPI have reached 79 trillion won ($51.8 billion) so far this year, leading the rally in the benchmark index, even as foreigners sold 124 trillion won of shares for profit-taking. Last year, retail investors sold 26 trillion won of KOSPI shares.

Borrowed investments by retail investors in the KOSPI market stood at a record 29 trillion won as of Tuesday, up 71% from 17 trillion won at the end of 2025, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association.

($1 = 1,524.6900 won)

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 3:39 AM.