South Korean Stock Market Hits New High as Retail Investors Borrow to Chase Gains, Personal Loans See Largest Increase in Five Years

BlockBeats News, June 1st, the hot Korean stock market has driven a surge in personal loans. As the KOSPI index continues to hit record highs, Korean retail investors are borrowing money to enter the market. As of last Thursday, the total amount of personal loans outstanding from the five major banks in Korea reached 106.99 trillion Korean won, equivalent to $709.8 billion, reaching the highest level since November 2023 (at that time it was 107.72 trillion Korean won), with a monthly increase of 2.65 trillion Korean won, the largest since April 2021. This round of lending growth is mainly from overdraft credit limits, and the outstanding balance of such credit instruments has reached 41.93 trillion Korean won. The continuous rise of the Korean stock market has stimulated retail investors' leverage investment demand, and as a result, the scale of personal loans has rapidly rebounded.

According to Bitget market data, today both the Korean and Japanese stock markets hit new highs again. The Korean KOSPI index surged 3% intraday to 8733.67 points. The Nikkei 225 index broke through 67,000 points, hitting a historic high again, with an intraday gain of 1%.