The KOSPI opened at 6,680.34 on the 20th, up 3.23% from the previous session, as bargain hunting, stabilizing U.S. Treasury yields, improved biotech sentiment and SK Hynix’s shareholder-return plan supported the rebound. At 9:10 a.m., retail investors were net buyers of 418.8 billion won, or about $301.5 million, while institutions sold a net 267.3 billion won and foreign investors sold a net 191.9 billion won. SK Hynix gained more than 6%, while Samsung Electronics rose 3.23%, SK Square advanced 2.79% and Samsung Biologics climbed 2.27%. Moderna’s shares surged 176.8% after its personalized mRNA cancer vaccine Intismeran Autogene, developed with Merck, showed stronger suppression of melanoma recurrence than standard treatment in a Phase 3 trial when combined with Keytruda; Merck rose 12.6%. SK Hynix said it would buy back and cancel 40 trillion won, about $28.8 billion, of treasury shares over three months, equivalent to approximately 3.3% of its outstanding shares. The move came earlier than expected and added momentum to semiconductor stocks. Bank of America’s August Global Fund Manager Survey showed semiconductors remained the most crowded trade, although the response fell from 82% to 53%. Analyst Han Ji-young said the combination of shareholder-return momentum, lower U.S. long-term yields and easing semiconductor crowding could improve recovery elasticity in the KOSPI and KOSDAQ. Macro risks remain, including the July FOMC minutes’ indication that most Federal Reserve officials favored further rate increases if inflation remains uncontrolled and the delay in resuming U.S.-Iran negotiations. Han said equity exposure should remain neutral or above because there is no evidence that the AI investment cycle has ended or that big-tech fundamentals have deteriorated.