South Korean investors are borrowing more money to buy stocks as the local stock market is nearing an all-time high for the year, data showed Sunday.

The so-called margin debt, or the amount of money borrowed to buy stocks, reached 4.94 trillion won ($4.82 billion) as of Wednesday, the highest since June 7, 2013, when the comparable figure was 4.99 trillion won, according to the data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association.

The margin debt for the main bourse rose to 2.57 trillion won as of Wednesday from 2.29 trillion won at the end of last year, with the corresponding figure for the tech-rich KOSDAQ market surging to 2.37 trillion won from 1.89 trillion won over the cited period, the data showed.

Analysts said local investors, particularly retail investors, are taking out record levels of margin debt on hopes that stock prices would continue their upward trend.

The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, closed at to 2,013.44 points on Friday, the highest closing of the year, fueled by massive foreign buying, after dipping to this year’s record low of 1,885.53 points on Feb. 4.

The KOSDAQ index also reached the highest of the year at 573.88 points on April 23, rising from this year’s lowest of 493.79 points on Jan. 3. (Yonhap)