Korean retail investors are holding their leverage steady during this market crash, possibly fearing a repeat of last April's scenario.

Glonghui, March 10th丨During the stock market plunge triggered by the Middle East conflict, Korean retail investors’ leveraged positions remained almost unchanged, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Margin balances reached a new high last week, peaking at 33.7 trillion won (23 billion USD) on Thursday (UTC+8), with a slight pullback on Friday (UTC+8). The relatively stable scale of financing highlights investors’ persistent confidence in the artificial intelligence (AI) theme. “Vivid (and possibly painful) memories of missing the market bottom opportunity in April 2025 may have prevented investors from making large-scale portfolio adjustments,” said Homin Lee, a strategist at Lombard Odier Singapore.