South Korea market watchdog issues warning on leveraged stock investments

SK Hynix

18/06/2026 04:00

    SEOUL, June 18 (Reuters) - South Korea's financial market regulator issued on Thursday an investor warning on single-stock leveraged investment products recently introduced amid a world-beating, chipmaker-led rally in the domestic market. 
"With stock market volatility increasing recently, there have been cases where the prices of single-stock leveraged or inverse products fluctuate sharply in the short term," the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a statement. 
"Therefore, the FSS issues a consumer warning to remind retail investors of risks and to induce careful investment decisions," it said. 
Last month, stock brokerages received regulatory approval to launch single-stock leveraged investment products linked to Samsung Electronics 005930.KS and SK Hynix 000660.KS, following a surge in the shares of the two chipmakers.
The KOSPI .KS11 has risen 111% so far this year, led by gains of 190% and 300% in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, respectively, with the two chipmakers accounting for more than 50% of the benchmark.  

 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
 ((jihoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com;))