SEOUL/POHANG, South Korea -- When a group of young women met over bubble tea at a cafe in Pohang, South Korea, last week, there was a hot topic of conversation -- the stock market.

Dealers work in front of monitors at Hana Bank in Seoul on Feb. 2. South Korean stocks have been on a tear, getting a major boost from younger retail investors. They are now bracing for the end of the country's unprecedentedly long ban on short selling, the lifting of which they have vehemently opposed. © EPA/Jiji
End of ban could usher in more cautious approach to share trading