Tesla lures US$2.8b from Korean day traders amid stock drop

SOUTH KOREAN retail investors have bought a net US$2.8 billion worth of Tesla stock this year amid the electric-vehicle maker’s worst slump on record.

Day traders added US$160 million in Tesla shares between the start of this month and Dec 27 and are on track for a third month of net purchases, data from the Korea Securities Depository showed. They continued to buy even as the stock tumbled 44 per cent in December in what would be its worst month to date.

Tesla remains the most popular overseas stock among South Korean retail traders, who sharply increased investment during the pandemic. Chief executive Elon Musk has built a devoted fan base in the Asian nation, luring dip-buyers in the stock’s 2022 collapse on top of those who piled in as it soared over the last two years.

Tesla supplier LG Energy Solution has been a beneficiary as well, with Korean mom-and-pop investors pouring a record amount of funds into the battery maker’s initial public offering in January. LG Energy’s shares have risen by 46 per cent since its debut.

South Korea’s retail investors have also remained loyal to their favourite domestic stock, Samsung Electronics, buying a net US$12.3 billion so far in 2022. Shares of the world’s largest memory maker were down 28 per cent this year amid the global tech sell-off. BLOOMBERG