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Kospi logs second-highest sidecar activation just three months into 2026

Published: 24 Mar. 2026, 17:53

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi opening on March 24. [YONHAP]

The total number of sidecars, or temporary halts in program trading, activated so far this year in the benchmark Kospi market has already come to the second-largest annual figure, data showed Tuesday.

A total of 10 sidecars have been issued as of Monday in the Kospi market, according to the data from the Korea Exchange (KRX).

It marked the second-largest annual tally for such measures, after 2008, when the KRX issued 26 sidecars during the global financial crisis, the data from the bourse operator showed.

Under a sidecar, all program trading is suspended for five minutes.

The measure is triggered when the Kospi 200 future index either jumps or dips by more than 5 percent for at least one minute — a criterion established in 2001.

Korea's stock market has shown extreme volatility in 2026 amid the crisis in the Middle East and the won's depreciation, with some investors considering sidecars the "new normal."

After over a 75 percent rise last year, boosted by semiconductors, the benchmark index plunged over 12 percent on March 4 before surging over 9 percent the following session, only to fall again by nearly 6 percent the following week.

Yonhap