South Korea's bourse operator on Wednesday activated a buy-side sidecar for the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index after the index surged, driven by gains in technology stocks.
Program trading for the Kospi-listed shares was suspended for five minutes at 9:25 a.m., shortly after the market opened, according to the Korea Exchange.
After opening 3.85 percent higher, the Kospi climbed 4.53 percent as of 9:27 a.m. amid hopes for a possible agreement between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz and eased woes over artificial intelligence investment.
A buy-side sidecar is triggered when the KOSPI 200 Futures index rises 5 percent or more for at least one minute.
Overnight, US stocks advanced as investors bet that a possible agreement to reopen the crucial shipping route could extend the recent decline in oil prices and ease inflationary pressures.
Also, strong earnings reports from key firms, such as enterprise software firm Palantir Technologies, helped ease woes over massive investment into the AI sector by major tech firms.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.71 percent to 54,085.88, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.59 percent to 26,584.99. (Yonhap)
