The short selling rate of companies listed on the KOSPI 200 surpassed ten percent last week, the highest since the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020.

According to the Korea Exchange on Tuesday, the short selling rate of stocks reached eleven percent as of last Thursday, the highest since February 5, 2020 when the figure posted eleven-point-six percent.

The short selling of stocks, which involves the investor borrowing and selling securities in the hopes of purchasing them at a lower price in the future, was banned from March 2020 to April 2021 in the wake of pandemic-triggered free fall in share prices.

Short selling transaction charges have also been on the rise since last month. The average daily charge between October 1 and 16 stood at 570 billion won, up 15-point-five percent from a month earlier.

There is growing expectation for additional downward pressure with the rise in short selling, especially amid forecasts of a prolonged bearish market in line with the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate hikes.