Kospi, Kosdaq sidecars activated after stocks plunge more than 4% 

Sell-side sidecars were activated on Kospi and Kosdaq on Monday morning after the indexes plunged more than 4 percent. 

A sell-side curb, locally known as a sidecar, was activated on the Kospi at 11:22 a.m. and the Kosdaq at 10:52 a.m. to halt program trading for five minutes, according to the Korea Exchange.

A sell-side sidecar on the benchmark index is triggered when the Kospi 200 Futures Index falls 5 percent or more for at least one minute. On Kosdaq, it is activated when the Kosdaq 150 Index falls by more than 3 percent and Kosdaq 150 futures drop by more than 6 percent for at least one minute.

The Kospi opened lower on Monday, falling 35.41 points, or 0.52 percent from the previous session, to 6,785.19 as of 9:19 a.m. Samsung Electronics rose 0.39 percent, and SK hynix gained 1.79 percent, but most other stocks traded lower. The index then extended its losses, falling 283.67 points, or 4.16 percent, to 6,536.93 as of 11:20 a.m.

The Kosdaq was trading at 753.87, down 327.79 points, or 4.80 percent, from the previous session, as of 10:57 a.m.

BY LEE JIAN [[email protected]]