South Korea has accelerated the evacuation of the stock market and the trade share has fallen to a six-monthly low Points

ON TUESDAY, 4 AUGUST, THE KOREA EXCHANGE INDICATED THAT, AS MARKET VOLATILITY WEAKENED INVESTOR SENTIMENT, INDIVIDUAL KOREAN INVESTORS WERE RAPIDLY EVACUATING THE STOCK MARKET. THE DATA SHOW THAT THE SHARE OF INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS IN KOREA ' S COMBINED EQUITY INDEX (KOSPI) TRANSACTIONS IN JULY RANGED FROM 31.2 TO 31.5 PER CENT, A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE FROM 48.1 PER CENT IN JANUARY. IN JUST SIX MONTHS, THIS PERCENTAGE FELL BY ABOUT 16 TO 17 PERCENTAGE POINTS. ACCORDING TO THE KOREA EXCHANGE, TODAY ' S SLIGHT REBOUND IN THE INDEX ALSO TRIGGERS A SALE, AND INVESTORS ARE EAGER TO RECOVER THEIR PRINCIPAL AND WITHDRAW, ACCELERATING THE OUTFLOW OF FUNDS FROM THE DOMESTIC MARKET. SINCE JUNE, INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS HAVE ALSO CEASED TO BE THE MAIN FORCE FOR MARKET TRANSACTIONS. IN JULY, FOREIGN INVESTORS ACCOUNTED FOR APPROXIMATELY 38 TO 39 PER CENT OF KOSPI TRANSACTIONS, SIGNIFICANTLY EXCEEDING THE SHARE OF SCATTERED INVESTORS. ANALYSTS NOTED THAT THE HIGH DEPENDENCE OF THE KOSPI INDEX ON THE LEADING ENTERPRISES, TRISTAR ELECTRONICS AND SK HERCULES, WAS AN IMPORTANT REASON FOR INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS TO STAY AWAY FROM THE KOREAN MARKET. KIM XIAN