KOSPI and KOSDAQ Surge... KOSPI Triggers Buy Sidecar for the First Time in 8 Months

Foreign Investors Lead KOSPI Rally
Buy-Sidecar Triggered During Trading Session

The KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices showed a sharp rise on the morning of the 10th. This was due to the sudden suspension of reciprocal tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump, which triggered a sharp rebound in the New York stock market, easing concerns about the global trade war.

As of 9:45 a.m. that day, the KOSPI was trading at 2402.38, up 108.6 points (4.74%) from the previous day. The index started at 2395.13, up 101.4 points (4.42%), and maintained a strong trend. Currently, foreigners are net buying stocks worth 202.4 billion KRW, and institutions are net buying 58.2 billion KRW. Individuals are selling stocks worth 266.5 billion KRW.

As the stock market surged rapidly, a buy-sidecar (program trading buy order suspension) was triggered. This was the first time in about eight months since August 6 of last year, when the global stock market rebounded after a sharp drop (Black Monday). This contrasts with the sell-sidecar triggered by the KOSPI due to the sharp drop the previous day.

According to the Korea Exchange, at 9:06 a.m. that day, the KOSPI 200 futures (most recent month) rose 5.76% from the previous closing price of 304.65 points to 322.20 points and sustained this for one minute, triggering the buy-sidecar. The KOSPI sidecar is triggered when the KOSPI 200 futures price rises more than 5% compared to the reference price and sustains for one minute, suspending the effectiveness of program buy orders for five minutes.

On the 10th, at the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, dealers were working as the KOSPI index surged over 5% in early trading following news of the US mutual tariff suspension, triggering a buy-sidecar. On the same day, the won-dollar exchange rate started trading at 1,446 won, down 38.1 won from the previous trading day.

All of the top market capitalization stocks in the KOSPI are on the rise. SK Hynix (11.15%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (8.69%), Hyundai Motor Company (6.52%), LG Energy Solution (5.89%), Hanwha Ocean (5.83%), Celltrion (5.24%), Meritz Financial Group (4.92%), KB Financial Group (4.94%), Hanwha Aerospace (4.92%), Samsung Electronics Preferred (4.74%), Samsung Electronics (4.43%) are all increasing.

By sector, most sectors are on the rise, including Electronics (6.38%), Machinery Equipment (6.08%), Transportation Equipment Parts (5.66%), Manufacturing (5.38%), Medical Precision Instruments (5.02%), Chemicals (4.33%), Finance (4.29%), and Insurance (3.93%).

Earlier, President Trump announced that reciprocal tariffs with countries expressing willingness to negotiate would be suspended for 90 days. This narrowed the tariff war front to China, and the New York stock market closed higher across the board. On the 9th (local time) at the New York stock market, the blue-chip-focused Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) closed at 40,608.45, soaring 2,962.86 points (7.87%) from the previous trading day. The large-cap-focused S&P 500 index surged 474.13 points (9.52%) to 5,456.9, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index skyrocketed 1,857.06 points (12.16%) to close at 17,124.97.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index also recorded 670.93, up 27.54 points (4.28%) from the previous session. The index started at 670.12, up 26.73 points (4.15%). Individuals were net buyers of 10.3 billion KRW. Foreigners were net sellers of 6.9 billion KRW, and institutions were net sellers of 1.9 billion KRW.

Most of the top market capitalization stocks in the KOSDAQ are also on the rise. Voronoi (10.26%), Classys (8.83%), ABL Bio (7.60%), HPSP (6.79%), Hugel (6.62%), PharmaResearch (6.54%), EcoPro BM (6.44%), Samchundang Pharm (6.42%), Alteogen (6.19%), Rainbow Robotics (6.20%), EcoPro (6.07%) all rose sharply.