South Korean retail investors' financing explodes, leverage ratio drops to low level According to the data seen this morning, the loan balance of Korean retail financing accounts has reached nearly 26 billion US dollars, setting a new historical high. In terms of absolute amount, the scale of Korean investors borrowing money from financing accounts to buy stocks has reached a historical high. But another set of data shows that the proportion of financing loans in South Korea to the free market value is currently only about 0.8%. This proportion is expected to be around 1.3% in 2025 and once approached 1.5% to 1.7% between 2021 and 2022. That is to say, the absolute amount of financing balance has reached a new high, but the proportion of financing balance relative to the free circulation market value of South Korea has actually dropped to a relatively low level in recent years. The focus of this set of data is that two changes occur simultaneously. Firstly, the financing balance has reached a historic high, indicating a significant expansion in the absolute scale of financing purchases in the Korean market. Secondly, the proportion of financing to the free circulating market value is decreasing, indicating that the expansion speed of the free circulating market value of the South Korean stock market is faster than the expansion speed of financing balance. To put it simply, Korean investors did borrow more money to buy stocks, but the freely tradable market value of the Korean stock market increased faster. The record breaking absolute financing balance indicates that retail investors are indeed very active in financing and buying. The decrease in the proportion of financing indicates that after the overall growth of the Korean market, the weight of this part of financing in the market has actually decreased. This also means that the current heat of the South Korean stock market is indeed high, but the financing data itself has not yet shown the extremely crowded state of relative market size in the past. If viewed together with the United States and China, the data for South Korea is even more evident. The financing balance in the United States has reached over $1.4 trillion, an absolute record high, but the financing balance accounts for approximately 1.8% to 1.9% of the total market value. This ratio is not considered an extreme historical high, but closer to the long-term average level. The situation in the United States is that the financing amount itself is large, but the total market value of US stocks is also large, so the relative leverage is not as exaggerated as the absolute amount may seem. The financing balance of China's A-share market also surged to 2.29 trillion yuan last year, surpassing the high point in 2015, but the financing balance accounted for about 2.3% of the free market value, significantly lower than the peak of 4.7% in 2015. The current financing balance in South Korea is approximately 26 billion US dollars, reaching a historic high in absolute amount, but financing accounts for only about 0.8% of the market value in free circulation. By comparison, the United States has achieved an absolute increase in amount and a relative market value close to the long-term average, while China has achieved an absolute increase in amount and a relative proportion lower than in 2015. South Korea has achieved a high absolute amount, but its relative proportion is lower than that of both the United States and China. So South Korea seems to have gained market heat now, but it has not yet become a market supported entirely by financing. Retail financing is indeed increasing, but the weight of financing portfolios in the entire market is not significant. Compared with the United States and China, the current market leverage pressure in South Korea is actually lower, at least in terms of financing proportion, the market structure is relatively healthy. Bitget is here, VIP! Crypto、 US shares CFD， Global Advantage One Stop Layout