President Donald Trump decided to suspend tariffs for 75 countries, excluding China, for 90 days, leading to significant increases in major stock indexes on the New York Stock Exchange. The asset value of 50 U.S. stocks, heavily invested in by domestic retail investors, is estimated to have increased by nearly 16 trillion won overnight.
According to the Korea Securities Depository on the 10th, as of the 8th, the total custody amount of the 50 U.S. stocks most held by domestic investors was $64.06114 billion (approximately 92.7 trillion won). Simply reflecting the settlement lag and the price fluctuations of these stocks on the 8th and 9th, it decreased to $62.04375 billion (approximately 89.7 trillion won) and then rebounded to $73.01111 billion (approximately 105.6 trillion won). The difference may vary when considering trading during this period, but domestic retail investors experienced a rollercoaster between hell and heaven in just one day.
The stock price of Tesla, which is the most held by domestic investors, jumped 22.69% overnight. The custody amount for Tesla is also estimated to have increased by $3.2 billion (approximately 4.6 trillion won) in just one day. The stock price of NVIDIA, which is the second most held by domestic investors, also rose 18.72% in a day. The custody amount for NVIDIA is expected to have increased by about $1.65 billion (approximately 2.4 trillion won).
The leverage exchange-traded funds (ETFs) preferred by domestic investors also surged. The 'SOXL,' which tracks the daily rise of the U.S. semiconductor index by three times, rose 54.79% overnight. The 'TQQQ' and 'TSLL,' which chase the daily rise of the NASDAQ 100 index and Tesla's stock price threefold, also increased by 35.24% and 45.21%, respectively. The custody amounts for these three stocks are expected to have increased by nearly $1.8 billion (approximately 2.6 trillion won).
Conversely, investors who bet on a market decline are likely to be in despair due to President Trump's sudden change of heart within a day. The SQQQ, which inversely tracks the NASDAQ 100 index by three times, fell sharply by 35.28% overnight. It is estimated that the custody amount has decreased by about $9.922 million (approximately 1.4 billion won).
However, it has not yet recovered the decline compared to before the tariff announcement by the Trump administration. The day before the so-called 'Liberation Day,' the asset value of the 50 stocks most held by domestic investors exceeded $74 billion, and it approached $85 billion at the beginning of the year.
Uncertainty remains. President Trump raised the tariff on China to as much as 125%. Ahn So-eun, a researcher at KB Securities, noted, "Considering the percentage of imports from China last year (13.4%) and the tariff rate of 125%, the average tariff burden that corporations will face after the second quarter (April-June) will be 25.4%, which is practically no different from the decision to suspend."
Hwang Soo-wook, a researcher at MERITZ Securities, said, "There are still issues regarding the imposition of tariffs by item," adding, "President Trump is still discussing tariffs on pharmaceuticals, and the imposition of tariffs on semiconductors is still uncertain."