According to BlockBeats, on July 14th, foreign investors have withdrawn nearly $110 billion from the South Korean stock market this year, a record high. The main reason is to avoid an imbalance in their investment portfolios due to the rapid rise in the South Korean stock market. This has resulted in South Korean retail investors bearing the brunt of the buying. Following purchases of 42.4 trillion won in June, South Korean retail investors have made net purchases of 13.2 trillion won in KOSPI shares this month. As of July 14th, the outstanding margin balance used by retail investors to invest in KOSPI shares was 28 trillion won, having previously reached a record high of 29.8 trillion won on June 24th.

Alexander Redman, chief equity strategist at CLSA, said, "South Korea remains our most overweight market, but I've started reducing my holdings. What worries me is that the market is currently dominated by retail investors because they heavily rely on margin trading." (Jinshi)

According to BlockBeats, on July 14, Goldman Sachs Korea stated that the key support level for the South Korean KOSPI index is at 6500 points; if this level fails to contain selling pressure, the index may fall further to the 6100-6000 point range.

According to Bitget data, the South Korean KOSPI index fell more than 5% intraday, hitting a low of 6448.86 points, breaking below the 6500-point mark. It has since rebounded to 6676 points, narrowing its losses to 1.97%.

According to BlockBeats, Bitcoin fell more than 2% in the past 24 hours on July 14, currently trading at around $62,380. Market expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike as early as July have clearly intensified, with the money market predicting a 50% probability of a rate hike this month, compared to only about 10% a few days ago.

The anticipated shift stemmed from Federal Reserve Governor Waller's statement that officials might need to raise interest rates to control price pressures. The yield on the two-year U.S. Treasury note subsequently rose to 4.29%, its highest level since the beginning of last year. Escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, along with a surge in oil prices, also intensified inflation concerns, with WTI crude oil futures rising from $67 a barrel at the beginning of the month to nearly $80.

The U.S. Labor Department will release the June Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Tuesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the overall CPI year-on-year increase to fall below 4%, with both overall and core inflation likely to decline for the first time since January; May's figures were 4.2% and 2.9%, respectively. However, recent oil price increases may lead the market to view this data as a lagging indicator, and if inflation proves more sticky, it could further reinforce concerns about interest rate hikes.

The market will then focus on Federal Reserve Chairman Warsh's testimony before Congress. ING analysts believe that Warsh can emphasize that inflation expectations remain moderate and that there is sufficient grounds to keep interest rates unchanged; even if rates are eventually raised, this could be reversed later, and future rate cuts may still outweigh rate hikes.