Taiwan, Korea Investors Hold Fast to Leveraged Bets in Selloff

Retail investors in Taiwan and South Korea largely held on to their leveraged positions during a selloff spurred by the war in Iran, signaling resilient appetite for two of Asia’s tech-heavy markets.

The amount of borrowed money used to buy stocks in Taiwan slipped by only 5% in the week through Monday, remaining near the highest since 2007, Bloomberg‑compiled data show. In Korea, outstanding margin financing reached new highs last week to peak at 33.7 trillion won ($23 billion) on Thursday, before edging down slightly on Friday, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association.