Individual investors net-sold 1.773 trillion Korean won in 16 single-stock leveraged and inverse ETFs linked to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix between July 31 and August 28, according to the Korea Exchange on August 30. The selling followed a sharp reversal from the 15.2876 trillion won net purchase recorded between the products' May 27 listing and July 30. Trading also contracted after financial authorities raised the basic deposit requirement from 10 million won to 30 million won on July 31, citing concerns that the products were increasing domestic stock-market volatility. Average daily trading volume fell from 11.6787 trillion won before the change to 3.1518 trillion won on July 31 and 537 billion won by August 28; the August average was 1.0059 trillion won, roughly one-twelfth of the earlier level. Simulated trading became mandatory on August 19, while a rule expanding the trading unit to 20 shares is scheduled to take effect within November. NH Investment & Securities researcher Ha Jae-seok said assets and trading volumes had declined, semiconductor concentration had eased, and slowing earnings momentum at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix had created conditions for the rally to broaden into other sectors. Other analyses indicate a possible balloon effect, with withdrawn funds moving into index leveraged ETFs and overseas leveraged products. Among the most-traded products during the period were KODEX Leverage, KODEX KOSDAQ 150 Leverage and KODEX 200 Futures Inverse 2X. Korean retail investors buying foreign stocks also net-purchased $187.37 million, or about 258.7 billion won, of ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) from August 3 to August 28, making it their sixth-largest net purchase in U.S. stocks.