KRX issues buy-side sidecar for Kospi on steep rise

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi opening on June 1. [NEWS1]
A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi opening on June 1.

The Korea Exchange (KRX) on Monday activated a trading halt on the main bourse after a sharp rally led by tech firms.

Program trading for the Kospi-listed stocks was suspended for five minutes at around 11:30 a.m., according to the KRX.

The benchmark Kospi spiked 379.53 points, or 4.48 percent, to 8,855.68 as of 11:40 a.m. after opening at a record high.

A buy-side sidecar is triggered when the Kospi 200 Futures index increases 5 percent or more for at least one minute.

Yonhap