SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — After failed attempts in recent weeks, South Korean officials on Wednesday finally freed a large gray shark that had been trapped for more than a month in a canal in the port city of Busan.
Officials used a floating platform to herd the 3-meter-long (9.8-foot) female dusky shark, nicknamed Bukangi after the Korean name for Busan’s North Port, along the narrow canal for hours. The shark lingered at the canal’s mouth but eventually swam to sea, Busan Mayor Chun Jae-soo said.
The shark was first spotted in mid-September and became a major tourist attraction as it slowly circled the canal, its fins slicing through the water’s surface.
Busan officials, who made Bukangi a city mascot, said the shark attracted more than 1.7 million visitors to the canal. But they struggled for weeks to find a way to guide it back to the open sea.
Wednesday’s operation was the third attempt to free Bukangi, following failed efforts on Sept. 29 and Oct. 2 that involved boats spraying streams of water and nets placed across the narrow waterway. The shark avoided the boats and swam over the nets.
Experts have raised concerns about the shark’s condition, saying it had shown no signs of feeding during its monthlong stay in the canal and that falling water temperatures posed additional health risks.
Wednesday’s operation involved painstakingly maneuvering a large floating platform through the canal to drive the shark out. Workers stood on the platform and used oars to push Bukangi back whenever it approached. Dozens of other workers on both banks pulled ropes to drag the structure forward, as hundreds of onlookers lined the canal to watch the highly unusual rescue effort.
Workers managed to push the platform about a kilometer (0.6 miles) toward the mouth of the canal and placed additional netting in front of the structure to prevent the shark from swimming back in.
It wasn’t immediately clear how far the shark swam out and South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that it was seen at a nearby pier.
“We will never forget the great interest people have shown for Bukangi and Busan’s waters,” Chun wrote on Facebook. “We hope Bukangi can live a healthy life in the blue sea.”
A shark is stuck in guiding nets connected to floating pontoons installed on the waterway of North Port Waterfront Park in Busan, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Son Hyung-joo/Yonhap via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is ticking higher Wednesday as strong profit reports from SpaceX, Capital One Financial and other big companies offset updates from Netflix and AT&T that investors found disappointing.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and was on track for a third straight modest gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 127 points, or 0.2%, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% higher.
SpaceX helped lead the market and climbed 9.9% after reporting a stronger profit for the summer than analysts expected. Elon Musk, who runs the company that makes money from artificial-intelligence technology, rockets and other businesses, also said that SpaceX took a step to consider a possible merger with Tesla, his electric-vehicle company.
Tesla, which will report its latest quarterly results late Wednesday, rose 3.5% and was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500.
Other stocks rallying on profit reports that topped analysts’ expectations included Capital One Financial, which rose 4.4%, and Winnebago Industries, which climbed 7.6%.
Expectations are high for profit growth during the summer, and companies will need to meet them to justify the big runs their stock prices have made toward records despite worries about high inflation, higher interest rates and other challenges weighing on Wall Street.
Winnebago was able to report a more resilient profit than analysts expected even as high fuel prices and frustration among U.S. shoppers restrain interest in recreational vehicles, for example. CEO Michael Happe said its more expensive towable RVs are a tougher sell, but customers are interested in its “more accessible” offerings.
On the losing side of Wall Street was Netflix, which fell 4.9% even though the streaming service reported a stronger profit than analysts expected. Investors focused instead on worries that Netflix’s momentum may be slowing. The company’s forecast for revenue growth in the final three months of the year fell short of analysts’ expectations.
AT&T fell 6.3% even though it likewise delivered a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It gave a forecast for growth this year in an underlying measure of earnings before income taxes and some other things that fell short of some analysts’ expectations.
Among AI stocks, which have been at the center of the market’s action in recent weeks, the movements remained unsettled.
After leading the rest of the market for years because of the frenzy around AI, stocks in the industry have become shaky on worries that the build out of data centers may slow because of how much more expensive it’s become to borrow money.
CoreWeave, which has borrowed money to buy AI chips that it rents out to customers over the cloud, has been particularly volatile. It bounced between an early gain of nearly 4% and a drop of 4.5% Wednesday morning before moderating to a dip of 0.5%. A day earlier, it had careened between similarly wide gains and losses.
Other AI-linked stocks were more resilient. Nvidia's rise of 1.7% was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500.
Besides SpaceX’s profit report showing strength for AI spending, another encouraging signal for the industry came from Super Micro Computer, which sells AI servers and services. It said it expects to report stronger revenue for the summer than it had earlier forecast because of “increased demand for AI platforms,” and its stock rallied 8.8%.
Another potential boost for the AI industry came from an easing of Treasury yields, which help dictate how expensive loans are for the U.S. government, companies and regular Americans.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 5.10% from 5.12% late Tuesday, though it remains far above its 3.97% level from before the war with Iran sent oil prices and worries about inflation higher.
Oil prices remained unsteady on Wednesday following big recent swings on uncertainty about when the energy industry can return to normal. The price for a barrel of Brent crude added 0.3% to $109.12 after flipping up and down through the morning. It’s been yo-yoing between $97 and $112 in October.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.3% for one of the world’s biggest moves as AI stocks regained strength.
AP Business Writers Michelle Chapman and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
A general view shows the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
FILE - Signs at the intersection of Broad and Wall Streets stand near flags flying from the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
A currency trader passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. Dollar and South Korean Won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader talks with her colleague near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. Dollar and South Korean Won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A screen shows the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the foreign exchange rate between U.S. Dollar and South Korean Won, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics Co. stock price at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
