ETF trading tops 30% of market turnover on strong retail demand

Exchange-traded funds now account for 30 percent of trading value on the Korean stock market, driven by surging demand from retail investors, according to a report by the Korea Investment Securities on Friday.

Retail investors were net buyers of 64.3 trillion won ($41.9 billion) worth of listed shares and 55.3 trillion won worth of ETFs so far this year.

By contrast, foreign investors were net sellers of about 111 trillion won worth of listed shares and ETFs combined.

The scale of retail investo ...