The KOSPI plunged in early trading on Tuesday, triggering a five-minute halt on program sell orders, known as a sidecar, for the second time in three days.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), the sidecar was activated at around 9:19:22 a.m. as fluctuations in the KOSPI 200 futures index suspended program sell orders for five minutes. A sell sidecar is triggered when the KOSPI 200 futures index falls 5% or more and the decline persists for one minute. At the time of activation, the KOSPI 200 futures index was down 60.24 points, or 5.13%, from the previous session's close at 1,112.46.
It was the first sell sidecar on the KOSPI in three days, following one on the 15th, and the first in one trading day. This marks only the fifth time in history that a sell sidecar has been triggered on two or more trading days.
The KOSPI hit the 8,000 mark for the first time ever on the 15th before reversing course and falling below 7,500. The decline continued, with the index briefly sliding to the 7,100 range on Tuesday.
