On the 26th, as the KOSDAQ index broke through the 1,000 mark intraday, the dealing room display board at Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul shows the KOSDAQ index and other figures. Yonhap News

The KOSDAQ index surged more than 5% on the 26th, triggering a buy-side sidecar (temporary suspension of the effectiveness of program-trading buy orders) on the KOSDAQ market. On this day, KOSDAQ broke above the 1,040 level for the first time in four years.

The Korea Exchange said that at 9:59 a.m. that day, a buy-side sidecar was triggered on the KOSDAQ market. This was the first activation since April 10 last year, when the index rebounded after the U.S. announced a deferral of reciprocal tariffs. A buy-side sidecar suspends the effectiveness of program-trading buy orders for five minutes to mitigate volatility. It is triggered when KOSDAQ150 futures rise at least 6% from the previous day and the KOSDAQ150 index rises at least 3% for one minute.

On the day, KOSDAQ150 futures and the KOSDAQ150 both rose more than 6% intraday. The buy-side sidecar has since been lifted.

As of 10:25 a.m., the KOSDAQ index is trading at 1,044.64, up 50.71 points (5.1%) from the previous session. Large-cap KOSDAQ names such as Ecopro BM (11.19%), Ecopro (15.01%), Rainbow Robotics (24.49%), and ABL Bio (18.94%) are posting double-digit gains.

Individuals were net sellers of about 1 trillion won, but foreigners were net buyers of over 210 billion won and institutions of over 840 billion won, pulling the index higher. This seems to reflect growing expectations for revitalizing KOSDAQ, with the recent KOSPI 5000 Special Committee floating ‘KOSDAQ3000’ as the next target.