Battery funds dominate South Korea's best-performing October ETFs

Eight of South Korea's ten best-performing listed exchange-traded funds this month were tied to battery companies, Yonhap reported on Oct. 9, citing Korea Exchange data.

KODEX Secondary Battery Industry Leverage ETF, managed by Samsung Asset Management, led the ranking with a 19.94% return through Oct. 8. Mirae Asset Global Investments' TIGER KRX Second Battery Top10 Leverage ETF followed with an 18.45% gain.

Market watchers attributed demand for battery funds to expectations that artificial intelligence data centres would support energy storage systems, or ESS. That explanation reflects expectations rather than confirmed sales growth across the industry.

Daishin Securities analyst Kim Gwi-yeon expected stronger orders toward year-end to support share prices next year as ESS revenue and profitability improved. She maintained an overweight sector rating. Her assessment was a forecast.