Korean Stocks Jump as Brokers Say Margin Unwind Nearing End

South Korean benchmark Kospi jumped more than 6 percent on Wednesday, extending two-day gains to nearly 10 percent, as the unwinding of leveraged bets that drove the index about 30 percent below its peak appeared to be nearing completion. JPMorgan strategists estimated about 75 percent of deleveraging in leveraged ETF positions was done, and margin loan balances dropped to 33.4 trillion won, down 13 percent from end-June peak. The rebound was led by SK Hynix (up 9 percent) and Samsung Electronics (up 6 percent), recovering after about 1.2 trillion dollars of market value was wiped out since a June peak.