South Korean retail investors are turning to US stocks amid domestic market turmoil: Retail investors from South Korea bought +$4.6 billion worth of US stocks in July, the largest monthly total since January 2026. This marks a +627% MoM increase and follows -$469 million and -$940 million in sales in April and May, respectively. July purchases were also well above the +$2.7 billion monthly average recorded in 2025, a year when South Korean retail investors more than tripled their purchases of US equities from 2024. As a result, South Korean retail investors bought more US stocks last month than domestic equities for the first time since February. This comes as the KOSPI Index has dropped -33% from its June peak, with ~75% of the decline driven by the 2 largest chipmakers, Samsung and SK Hynix. US stocks are benefiting from South Korea's market downturn.