Bear Market Rally Confirmed, Retail Investors Return... MTS User Numbers Rebound 10% in August

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Recently, individual investors who had left the stock market during the downturn have been returning in August, taking advantage of the bear market rally, a temporary upswing within a bearish trend.

According to Mobile Index by big data platform company IGAWorks, the combined average DAU (daily active users) of the representative MTS (Mobile Trading Systems) from Kiwoom, Mirae Asset, Samsung, Korea Investment & Securities, and KB Securities from August 1 to 9 was 3,706,962.

This figure represents a 10.9% increase compared to the average DAU in July (3,343,359).

The combined average DAU of the five companies' MTS had been declining from 4,456,100 in January, dropping below 4 million in May, then sharply falling to 3,521,431 in June and 3,343,359 in July, before recently showing a slight rebound.

Even excluding weekends and holidays when the domestic stock market is closed, the trend remains the same.

Following the so-called 'bear market rally,' a temporary rebound in a bearish market since July, some individual investors who had withdrawn their interest from the stock market appear to be returning.

The KOSPI hit a new yearly low of 2,291.49 on July 1 but closed at 2,527.94 on August 12, marking a 10.3% increase from the yearly low.

KOSPI trading volume has also slightly increased.

The monthly average daily trading volume, which was around 20.6542 trillion KRW in January, maintained between 18 to 19 trillion KRW until April, but dropped to the 16 trillion KRW range in May and June, and further fell to 13.3172 trillion KRW in July.

From August 1 to 12, the average daily trading volume rose to 14.7027 trillion KRW, about 1 trillion KRW higher than the previous month.

The proportion of trading volume by individual investors increased from 49.9% in July to around 54% this month.

Brokerages expect the upper range of the KOSPI in August to be between 2,500 and 2,600, anticipating that the bear market rally will continue for the time being.