Stock Market Closes on December 30 This Year, Reopens at 10 AM on January 2 Next Year

The Korea Exchange announced on the 17th that it has designated the 31st of this month as a year-end holiday and will operate the securities and derivatives markets until the 30th.

Korea Exchange, Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The 31st is also excluded from settlement dates. However, clearing of over-the-counter derivatives at the central counterparty (CCP) and reporting to the trade repository (TR) will operate normally without a year-end holiday.

The ex-dividend date for corporations that set the end of December as the record date for dividends this year is the 27th. Investors who purchase stocks by the 26th can receive dividends from corporations with December fiscal year-end.

On January 2nd, the first trading day of next year, the regular trading hours for the KOSPI, KOSDAQ, and KONEX markets will start one hour later at 10:00 AM due to the stock market opening ceremony. The market closing time remains the same at 3:30 PM. The pre-market extended hours trading will also be delayed by one hour, but the after-hours trading will remain as usual.

In the derivatives market, index and government bond futures and options will start trading at either 9:45 AM or 10:00 AM depending on the product, and flex negotiated trades will begin at 10:10 AM, with closing times unchanged. Pork futures trading and over-the-counter derivatives CCP clearing operations will continue at the usual times.

In the general commodities market, only the gold market and KSM (KRX Startup Market) will open at 10:00 AM, while the oil market and emission trading market will operate at their usual hours.