[Edaily Reporters Park Soon-yeop and Kim Yoon-jung] On the day SK Hynix’s stock price plummeted nearly 8%, an unusual trading pattern occurred in which a single-stock leveraged exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the stock’s performance twice as much actually surged nearly 50%. This is believed to have been caused by a gap in bid-ask quotes during the period just before the market closed, when liquidity providers (LPs) are exempt from their obligation to submit quotes, resulting in market buy orders being executed at high prices.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 8th, Korea Investment Trust Management’s “ACE SK Hynix Single-Stock Leverage” closed at 30,000 won, up 9,960 won (49.70%) from the previous trading day. Although the ETF showed a bearish trend for most of the trading session, it closed higher after its price surged late in the session.

On the same day, SK Hynix, the underlying asset of this ETF, closed at 1,911,000 won, down 159,000 won (7.68%) from the previous trading day. Given the product’s structure, which tracks twice the daily return of SK Hynix, it is generally expected that the ETF would theoretically decline by around 15–16%. In fact, all six other single-stock leveraged ETFs tracking SK Hynix fell by approximately 15–18%.
This sharp price surge is believed to have stemmed from a bid-ask gap just before the market closed. Typically, ETFs are managed by market makers (LPs) who provide bid and ask quotes to ensure the market price does not deviate significantly from the net asset value (NAV). However, during the closing auction period from 3:20 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., LPs are exempt from the obligation to submit quotes. For products with low trading volume and thin order books during this time, the market price can be significantly distorted by the execution of a single order.
In this case as well, it appears that the closing price surged because some market buy orders were executed at high prices while LP quotes were not being submitted frequently enough.
In particular, investors who purchased this ETF at 30,000 won could face significant losses if the price returns to normal levels on the next trading day. Considering the price levels of other single-stock leveraged ETFs tracking SK Hynix, if the price of this product adjusts to around 16,000 won, investors who bought at the peak could potentially incur losses of around 50%.
Korea Investment Trust Management stated that it would review its LP quote system in response to this abnormal trading activity. The company explained, “LP quotes widened just before the market closed, when there is no obligation to submit quotes, and the stock price surged as market buy orders were executed amid the volatile quote situation.” It added, “We will use this incident as an opportunity to review our LP quote system and take every precaution to prevent further issues from occurring.”