South Korean Stock Short Selling Rises Despite Market Rebound

SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- Stock short selling has been on the rise despite the country's stock market sharply rebounding from a rout caused by a crash in chipmakers and artificial intelligence (AI)-related shares, data showed Sunday.

According to the data from the Korea Exchange (KRX), outstanding short selling reached some 19 trillion won (US$13.4 billion) as of Tuesday, up 14 percent, or 2.27 trillion won, from 16.73 trillion won at the end of last month.

Stock short selling stood at 15 trillion won at the end of February but fell to 12 trillion won in early March. The figure rose to 23 trillion won in early June.

So far this month, the country's benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 6 percent, and the secondary, tech-laden KOSDAQ index shot up 20 percent.

The country's stock market had crashed last month amid woes over the profitability of the AI-related investment, which may reduce demand for chips.

But investors remained worried over a sharp rise in a short period of time and are still uncertain whether the chipmaking sector has peaked.