South Korea's KOSPI briefly reclaimed the 7,200 level on the 18th before a broad selloff erased the rally and pushed the benchmark below 6,900 by late morning. The index opened at 7,127.77, rose as high as 7,216.62 on AI and semiconductor-related optimism, then turned lower around 11:30 a.m. as gains in heavyweight chip stocks faded and retail and institutional investors locked in profits. By 11:45 a.m., the KOSPI was down 82.95 points, or 1.19%, at 6,894.59, with an intraday swing of 322 points. Foreign investors were the only net buyers on the main board, purchasing about ₩750 billion to ₩930 billion worth of shares, but that was outweighed by net selling from retail and institutional investors. The reversal came as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix gave up most of their early advances, while losses spread across IT services and other cyclical sectors. The KOSDAQ also weakened, falling 1.78% to 849.24 as foreign and institutional investors sold. Investors were also reacting to a jump in long-dated U.S. Treasury and Japanese government bond yields, renewed geopolitical tension linked to the U.S.-Iran ceasefire expiry, and concerns over China's economy. Analysts said the move reflected short-term profit-taking after a strong rally earlier this week, but argued it should not yet be read as the end of the market's rebound if foreign buying, risk appetite and volatility stability hold.