Korean Stock ETFs Rebound in Early Trading, Samsung Electronics Leveraged ETF Surges Over 17%
Claire Weston
Korean equities reversed a lower open on July 20, lifting Hong Kong-listed leveraged ETFs by as much as 17%; the rally was driven by a new won-internationalization package and SK Hynix's chairman warning that the memory-chip supply gap will widen sharply.
Which ETFs moved the most?
CSOP 2x Samsung (07747) surged 17.41% to HK$78.9; CSOP 2x SK Hynix (07709) rose 14.51% to HK$51.3.
TR Korea (02848) gained 4.11%; CSOP HK-Korea Tech (03431) added 4.08%.
This means → leveraged ETFs far outpaced broad-based trackers, signaling that money is betting specifically on Samsung and Hynix, not Korean stocks as a whole.
What does the won-internationalization package do?
Korea's finance ministry announced Sunday that foreign financial institutions may now borrow won via temporary overdraft and use won-denominated bonds as collateral in transactions.
Since July 6, USD/KRW trading hours have been extended to a 24-hour session — a landmark opening of Korea's historically closed currency system.
In plain terms = foreign investors used to face a triple barrier — hard to borrow the won, hard to deploy it, hard to convert it. All three doors are opening at once.
What did the SK Hynix chairman say?
Chey Tae-won told the Jeju Forum that AI semiconductor demand next year is expected to grow 60% to 100% year-on-year; overall memory demand growth will reach 50% to 60%.
He added that major producers have virtually no substantive capacity-expansion plans for next year, making a wider supply-demand gap inevitable.
His exact word for the intensity of the global scramble for memory supply: "panic."
What does this rally need to last?
The won-opening policy lowers friction costs for foreign capital entering and exiting Korea. This reflects Seoul's push to qualify for more global index inclusion.
The supply-squeeze-plus-surging-demand thesis is still talk, not data. Whether it gets confirmed in the next earnings season is the market's key checkpoint.
In plain terms = policy has opened the door, but whether the stock prices hold depends on order books and capacity numbers from the chipmakers themselves.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.