Global investors pulled back from South Korean stocks through a wild turn in July but are keeping faith with the heavyweight chipmakers on the view that their growth momentum is intact, while leveraged holdings that rocked the market may ​have thinned out. Assets at leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with Korean underlying stocks Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) have collapsed from $50 billion in late June to $17 billion last week, according to J.P. Morgan research. Average allocations to South Korea by active global emerging market funds rose sharply over 18 months but flattened in June, as volatility spiked, figures from analytics firm EPFR show. Citi’s trading strategies desk estimated last week total losses for retail investors in leveraged ​ETFs at around $38.7 billion, a factor in mounting anger ​directed at policymakers for allowing single-stock leveraged funds ⁠to launch. Average short interest, weighted by positions’ value, for South Korea is about 4.3 per cent, down from a recent peak of about 5.3 per cent, according to data from S3 Partners.