Decade-High Margin Levels in Asia Help Explain Selling Intensity

The highest levels of margin debt used to buy stocks since the global financial crisis offers a clue as to why Asian shares tumbled following a selloff in precious metals.

The value of outstanding margin debt on China’s stock exchanges climbed to a record last week amid soaring inflows into gold and silver exchange-traded funds. Similar measures for Taiwan and Japan surged to levels last seen in the financial crisis as gold, silver and global equities all advanced to all-time highs.