Korean retail investors have shifted from domestic equities to U.S. stocks in the second half as the two markets have taken divergent paths, market analysts said Monday. While the KOSPI has fallen nearly 30 percent from its peak and struggled to regain momentum, enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) has pushed Wall Street to a series of record highs. According to data from the Korea Exchange and Korea Securities Depository, individuals sold a net 5.59 trillion won ($4.2 billion) worth of shares on Korea’s main bourse during the July-September period. Net purchases of 5.37 trillion won in July and 3.24 trillion won in August were outweighed by net sales of 14.2 trillion won in September alone. Korean retail investors’ appetite for U.S. equities, meanwhile, remained strong throughout the third quarter. They made net purchases of $7.63 billion, equivalent to about 10.15 trillion won, over the three months. September’s heavy selling in Korea coincided with net buying of about $1 billion in U.S. stocks. That pattern stands in stark contrast to their investment activity in the firs