BlockBeats News, August 18, South Korean retail investors are now shifting funds from the domestic stock market to the U.S. market. Data from a South Korean securities depository institution shows that South Korean investors net bought approximately $4.5 billion U.S. stocks in July, with about $840 million flowing into SK Hynix's U.S.-listed ADR, making it one of the most bought U.S. securities by South Korean investors.It is worth noting that South Korean investors could have directly bought SK Hynix in the Korean market but chose to purchase its U.S. ADR, resulting in a significant price disparity between the two markets. Currently, SK Hynix's ADR trades at a premium of about 10% to the South Korean domestic stock, and the U.S.-listed stock has higher volatility. Owen Lamont, Senior Vice President of Acadian Asset Management, believes that this rare price difference may be an indication of excessive market speculation, even a symptom of a "bubble."The shift of South Korean retail investors to U.S. stocks has not reduced their risk appetite, with AI, semiconductors, and high-leverage products still being core bets. Among the top 10 most bought U.S. stocks by South Korean investors in July, four are leveraged products, with the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares ETF (SOXL) being the most popular.Meanwhile, the margin debt balance in the South Korean stock market has decreased from about 37 trillion Korean won at the end of June to about 27 trillion Korean won in early August. Analysts point out that South Korean retail investors may have simply shifted high-risk AI trades previously conducted in the domestic market to the U.S. market, rather than truly exiting risky assets.The industry believes that the size of South Korean funds is not sufficient to change the overall trend of the U.S. stock market, but their concentrated trading may further amplify the price volatility of highly concentrated high-volatility assets among retail investors, such as AI chips, quantum computing, and leveraged ETFs.