Seoul, March 31 The short selling of South Korean stocks was tallied at over 1.7 trillion won ($1.16 billion) on the first day of the resumption of the trading scheme, data showed on Monday.
The country imposed a temporary ban on short selling in November 2023 after a series of naked short selling violations involving several global investment banks were discovered, reports Yonhap news agency.
Starting Monday, short selling is allowed for all listed firms for the first time since March 2020, when the authorities banned short selling for listed firms amid a market rout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ban was partially lifted in May 2021 before it was reimposed in 2023.
According to the Korea Exchange, investors' short selling reached 1.73 trillion won on Monday, which breaks down to 1.3 trillion won on stocks traded on the main bourse and 430 billion won on those listed on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market.
The Monday tally marks a sharp rise from 772 billion won worth of short selling on Nov. 3 2023, a day before the country banned the trading practice.
Foreign investors' short selling was tallied at 1.54 trillion won, accounting for 90 percent of the total. Institutional investors took up 111 billion won worth of short selling.
On Monday, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index sank 3 percent to close at 2,481.12 points, and the tech-laden KOSDAQ also suffered a 3.01 percent drop to 672.85 points.
The bourse operator had developed a new system to detect any illegal practices. The Financial Supervisory Commission, the country's financial regulator, also drew up new regulatory changes.
The Financial Supervisory Service, the financial watchdog, said earlier it will enhance market monitoring and implement measures to prevent excessive volatility of certain stocks for up to two months after the short selling ban is lifted.
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