SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- The fear gauge of South Korea's stock market has dropped after authorities took steps to curb the 16 single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) blamed for recent market volatility, the bourse operator said Monday.

Financial authorities raised the minimum cash deposit for single-stock leveraged ETF investments on July 31, as the speculative investment products triggered wild swings on the stock market.

The KOSPI 200 volatility index, or VKOSPI, fell to as low as 69.87 on Monday, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX). Compared with July 30, when the index stood at 86.18, it marked an 18.91 percent decline.

Also, it was the first time since May 28 that the index fell below 70.

The VKOSPI is the official Korean volatility index and serves as a "fear gauge," measuring the market's expected volatility over the next 30 days based on KOSPI 200 options.

Under the regulation, the minimum cash deposit required to invest in the single-stock leveraged ETFs was raised to 30 million won (US$21,184) from 10 million won.

Such ETFs, linked to Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., and introduced in May, have been widely viewed as a key factor behind the recent sharp fluctuations in the domestic stock market.

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