Individual investors appear to have sold off domestic stocks and primarily bought U.S. stocks in the second half of this year.

According to the Korea Exchange and the Korea Securities Depository, retail investors net sold 5.5902 trillion won worth of shares on the KOSPI market from July to September.

While they maintained a buyer advantage in July and August, they unloaded a staggering 14.197 trillion won in September alone.

In contrast, buying momentum in the U.S. stock market continued for three consecutive months over the same period.

Between July and September, individual investors net bought 7.63224 billion dollars in the U.S. stock market, which amounts to 10.1468 trillion won.

Even in September, when they dumped over 14 trillion won worth of domestic stocks, they purchased 1.00128 billion dollars in U.S. stocks.

During the first half of the year, buying momentum in the domestic stock market was overwhelmingly stronger than in the U.S. market.

From January to June, individuals net bought 99.1737 trillion won on the KOSPI, which is more than seven times the 13.2228 trillion won net-bought in U.S. stocks over the same period.

The situation shifted due to the persistent sluggishness of the domestic stock market recently.

After hitting an all-time high of 9,114.55 on June 22, the KOSPI dropped below the 7,000 level in July and closed at 6,625.93 on October 8.

This marks a drop of more than 20 percent from its peak. Meanwhile, the U.S. stock market has repeatedly broken record highs fueled by the AI boom, making the capital flight distinct.

A strong won also played a role. The won-dollar exchange rate, which hovered above 1,500 won in the first half, has now dropped to the mid-1,300 won range, significantly easing the burden of purchasing U.S. stocks.

Due to these influences, the value of U.S. stocks kept by domestic investors reportedly surpassed 200 billion dollars in four months.

Industry insiders noted that funds are moving toward the AI value chain, a high-growth industry, forecasting that assets will flock to developed countries—especially the U.S. AI value chain—rather than emerging markets for the time being.

(Reported by Lee Ho-geon | Video by Seo Byeong-wook | Design by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News)