South Korea's KOSPI broke above 7,100 intraday on Sept. 23, extending its rebound from the previous day's late-session move around 7,000. The index stood at 7,129.23 as of 9:13 a.m., up 111.32 points, or 1.59%, after opening at 7,153.99 and trading between 7,111.02 and 7,153.99. Foreign investors bought a net 174 billion won and institutions bought 142.9 billion won, while retail investors sold a net 366 billion won to take profits ahead of the Chuseok holiday. Program trading recorded net purchases of 262.3 billion won, including 101.6 billion won in arbitrage and 160.7 billion won in non-arbitrage trades. Semiconductor shares led the advance, with Samsung Electronics up 2.80% and SK Hynix up 1.96%, as related materials, components and holding companies also gained. The KOSDAQ rose 1.24% to 844.76, supported by retail buying, while the won-dollar exchange rate opened at 1,349.8 won. The previous day's rebound followed a brief slide to 6,986.27 and was attributed to strength in U.S. semiconductor stocks. The simultaneous gains in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix pointed to broader market optimism about a global memory-market recovery.