Foreign investors turned back to South Korean equities and helped drive a sharp rebound in the Kospi, which rose 9.05% over five trading days from its Aug. 10 close. The Korea Exchange said foreigners were net buyers of 86 billion won ($62.1 million) on Aug. 18, extending a net-buying streak that began on Aug. 11 to five straight sessions. Total net purchases during that period reached 8.156 trillion won ($5.89 billion), with 3.483 trillion won ($2.52 billion) directed into Samsung Electronics and 3.649 trillion won ($2.64 billion) into SK Hynix. Those combined purchases of 7.132 trillion won ($5.15 billion) accounted for about 87% of overall foreign net buying and coincided with gains of 16.74% in Samsung Electronics and 17.04% in SK Hynix, lifting the stocks back above 260,000 won and 1.6 million won, respectively.