South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index fell 5.36% on Monday, dropping 353.68 points to trade at 6,241.77, as investors locked in profits following the index's historic single-day surge just two trading sessions earlier.

The index opened sharply lower Monday, initially falling 3.6% before extending losses to as much as 4.25%, dropping 280.05 points to 6,315.4 shortly after 9:15 a.m. local time, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. The pullback continued through the morning session, pushing the decline past 5% by early afternoon.

Monday's retreat came directly on the heels of Friday's record-breaking rally, when the KOSPI surged 17.91% in a single session, the largest one-day percentage gain in the index's history, following blockbuster earnings from Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms that had eased broader concerns about the sustainability of artificial intelligence infrastructure spending. That Friday rally itself followed a brutal three-session stretch in which the KOSPI had plummeted more than 17%, at one point falling roughly 40% from its June peak.

Notably, Monday's decline came even as Wall Street posted a positive session heading into the new trading week, with robust earnings from Amazon continuing to fuel investor optimism........

© International Business Times