KRX issues sell-side sidecar for KOSPI on sharp fall

The Korea Exchange activated a sell-side sidecar for the KOSPI on Wednesday after the index fell sharply, suspending program trading for five minutes. Heavy selling by foreigners and individuals, driven by reassessment of AI trade prospects, pushed the index down as much as 2.7%.

Korea's bourse operator on Wednesday activated a sell-side sidecar for the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index KOSPI after the index tumbled sharply. Program trading for the KOSPI was suspended for five minutes at around 1:31 p.m., according to the Korea Exchange KRX . The KOSPI came under heavy selling pressure as investors offloaded technology and other large-cap stocks as they reassess the next phase of artificial intelligence AI trade. Foreigners and individuals sold a combined 784 billion won $519 million worth of stocks as of 1:40 p.m., exceeding institutional buying worth 767.9 billion won. After opening 2.7 percent lower, the KOSPI fell as low as 7,222.60 during the session.