Short-selling transactions up by over 500 bln won amid Middle East tensions

▲ The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) is shown on the screen inside the dealing room at Hana Bank in central Seoul on March 4, 2026. (Yonhap)

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Short-selling transactions up by over 500 bln won amid Middle East tensions

SEOUL, March 4 (Yonhap) -- The value of stock short selling grew by more than 500 billion won (US$338 million) on the first trading day following the U.S. and Israel's air strikes against Iran, industry data showed Wednesday.

The value of short-selling transactions reached 2.46 trillion won Tuesday, up by 518 billion won from the previous session, according to the data from the Korea Exchange (KRX), South Korea's main bourse operator.

On Tuesday, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged by more than 7 percent as risk-averse sentiment grew amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The value of short-selling transactions on that day compares with the daily average of 1.9 trillion won in 2025.

Short selling is an investment strategy of selling borrowed securities with the intent of repaying them with stocks purchased later at a lower price. Short sellers gain profit from a drop in stock prices.

Expectations that volatility will increase in the local stock market, along with a sharp drop in the Korean won, which once plunged to the lowest level since 2009, may have fanned short-selling demand, analysts said.

"The KOSPI continued to rise sharply in January and February, and was at a point where it needed a temporary easing to stop overheating," said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

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