While investor deposits, which act as standby funds in the stock market, are barely holding the 100 trillion won mark, the net monthly purchases of U.S. stocks by retail investors, known as "Seohak ants," have quadrupled compared to the previous month, showing active buying in the U.S. market.

According to the Korea Financial Investment Association and the Korea Securities Depository's securities information portal SEIBRO today (July 25), investor deposits stood at 104.2975 trillion won as of the 23rd (Photo: Getty Images Korea).

Investor deposits peaked at 139.6948 trillion won on June 4th and have gradually declined, dropping to 103.8765 trillion won on the 22nd.

This is the lowest level in about five months since February 13th (99.2735 trillion won).

Although deposits increased slightly on the 23rd, maintaining the 100 trillion won level remains precarious.

Conversely, domestic retail investors' net purchases of U.S. stocks from the 1st to the 23rd of this month (based on inquiry date) reached 2.53026 billion dollars (approx. 3.7114 trillion won), quadrupling the 632.96 million dollars (928.4 billion won) of the previous month.

Seohak ants' net purchases of U.S. stocks shifted from a net purchase of 1.6915 billion dollars in March to a net sale of 468.93 million dollars in April, and net sales expanded to 939.77 million dollars in May, before turning back to a buying dominance in June and surging significantly this month.

Previously, government policies, the rise of the Kospi, and a high exchange rate drew Seohak ants into the domestic stock market, but as the recent bearish trend persists, observations are emerging that retail investors are once again actively leaving the local market.

By stock, the top net purchase settlement (as of the 23rd) was 1.50023 billion dollars (2.1978 trillion won) in "SOXL" (DIREXION DAILY SEMICONDUCTORS BULL 3X SHS ETF), an ETF that tracks 3 times the daily return of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

SK hynix American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) followed with 613.67 million dollars (899 billion won), and "KORU" (DIREXION SHARES ETF TRUST DAILY MSCI SOUTH KOREA BULL), which tracks 3 times the performance of the South Korean stock market, followed with 213.37 million dollars (312.6 billion won).

Funds are also flocking to U.S. benchmark index exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed domestically.

According to Koscom ETF Check, three of the top five funds with net capital inflows over the past week were U.S. benchmark index ETFs, such as the S&P 500 or Nasdaq 100 indices.

"TIGER US S&P 500" recorded the highest net capital inflow at 221.4 billion won, while "TIGER US Nasdaq 100" (143.9 billion won) and "KODEX US S&P 500" (139.2 billion won) ranked third and fourth, respectively.

The credit transaction loan balance, an indicator of "debt-financed investing," stood at 32.7492 trillion won on the 23rd, down 1.8% from 33.3624 trillion won on the last trading day of the previous week.

The securities lending balance, which bets on falling stock prices, came to 158.6047 trillion won, up 5.1% from the previous week (the 16th, 150.4721 trillion won).

An official from the securities industry said, "As the fluctuation range of the domestic market increases, preference for the U.S. market, which has relatively lower volatility, is growing again," adding, "Along with this, there also appears to be demand to recover losses suffered in the domestic market using U.S. stock leverage products."