Range-Bound Stock Market Frustrates Investors...₩1.5 Trillion Flows Into Interest-Bearing Parking ETFs in One Week

[Financial News] As the domestic stock market struggles to establish a clear direction, funds awaiting investment opportunities are flowing into parking-type exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Investors are using short-term financial products to accumulate interest income while watching for their next opportunity, amid rising market rates.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on the 12th, a total of ₩1.4899 trillion flowed into five major parking-type ETFs over the past week. The top three ETFs by fund inflows during the same period were all parking-type products.
The product that attracted the most funds was the Mirae Asset TIGER Money Market Active ETF, which received ₩552.3 billion. The RISE Money Market Active ETF followed with ₩363.3 billion, while ₩312.5 billion flowed into the KODEX CD Rate Active (SYNTH) ETF. The KODEX KOFR Rate Active (SYNTH) ETF and KODEX Money Market Active ETF received ₩169.6 billion and ₩92.2 billion, respectively.
Parking-type ETFs are used to manage funds awaiting investment over the short term. Money market ETFs invest in short-term bonds and financial instruments, while CD-rate and KOFR-rate ETFs seek returns linked to the 91-day certificate of deposit rate and Korea’s risk-free reference rate, respectively.
Recent fund flows are understood to reflect demand to shift some assets into less volatile investments following a rebound in semiconductor stocks. As market rates rose, interest in the income that could be earned by investing idle funds also increased.
Buying also continued in ETFs investing in major U.S. indexes. The TIGER U.S. S&P 500 ETF received ₩180.3 billion, the KODEX U.S. S&P 500 ETF ₩117.9 billion, and the TIGER U.S. Nasdaq 100 ETF ₩109.5 billion. The three products attracted a combined ₩407.7 billion.
Individual investors’ trading showed both investment in U.S. stocks and efforts to manage risk in the domestic market. Individuals made net purchases of ₩108.2 billion in the TIGER U.S. S&P 500 ETF, while making net sales of ₩236.7 billion in the Samsung KODEX 200 ETF. They bought ₩105.9 billion worth of the KODEX 200 Futures Inverse ETF and ₩99.3 billion worth of the KODEX 200 Target Weekly Covered Call ETF. Conversely, they sold ₩172.9 billion worth of the KODEX Leverage ETF and ₩158.8 billion worth of the KODEX SK hynix Single-Stock Leverage ETF.
Funds waiting on the sidelines of the stock market also increased rapidly. According to data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association, investor deposits stood at ₩107.6572 trillion as of the 10th, up ₩4.8111 trillion from the previous day. Deposits that had once fallen below ₩100 trillion increased by ₩10.067 trillion over two days. The inflow is interpreted as reflecting expectations of further gains after the KOSPI Composite Index regained the 7,000 level on the 9th for the first time in 33 trading days and remained around that level the following day despite a slight decline.
Meanwhile, the scale of leveraged investment declined. The balance of credit-financed transactions fell by ₩49.3 billion from the previous day to ₩3.23598 trillion on the 10th, marking a decline for the fourth consecutive trading day. While funds waiting for investment opportunities are increasing, investors remain cautious about borrowing to invest.
[email protected] Choi Do-sun Reporter