South Korea’s ETF market showed a sharp divergence from Aug. 18 to 21 as gold mining and SK Hynix leveraged ETFs led returns, while defense, shipbuilding, secondary-battery and KOSDAQ leveraged products fell heavily. HANARO Global Gold Mining Companies rose 11.94% to rank first, followed by ACE Gold Futures Leverage (Synthetic H) at 9.12%. Gold miners benefited from the prospect that higher gold prices will expand earnings because much of their cost base is fixed. Analysts said fiscal concerns, rather than stronger economic growth, are driving higher long-term interest rates and weakening the dollar, conditions that could support gold despite the usual pressure from rising yields. SK Hynix products also filled the top rankings, led by KODEX SK Hynix Single Stock Leverage at 8.69%. At the bottom, PLUS K-Defense Leverage fell 19.97%, while KODEX Defense TOP10 Leverage and SOL Shipbuilding TOP3 Plus Leverage lost 19.61% and 19.46%, respectively. The move extended an earlier profit-taking-driven decline in Korean defense stocks, including LIG Defense & Aerospace, Hanwha Aerospace and other major names, as leveraged products amplified sector losses.