Retail Investors Bet Big Against Rising Oil Prices

South Korean retail investors have placed a massive ₩80.8 billion contrarian bet on oil prices despite international crude surging past $100 per barrel.

The bets are concentrated in inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs), which profit when oil prices fall.

The 'KODEX WTI Crude Oil Futures Inverse (H)' and 'Samsung Bloomberg Inverse 2X WTI Crude Oil Futures ETN B' saw net inflows of ₩49 billion and ₩31.8 billion respectively, with combined volume of 26.82 million shares and 15.41 million securities.

The retail investors are betting on a price correction following the rapid short-term spike in oil prices, which have climbed from the $90s to above $100 at a rapid pace.