Sidecar Triggered Again... Soaring KOSPI Surges Past 5,900 (Comprehensive)

Ninth Sidecar Triggered This Year
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix Soar
Index Driven by Simultaneous Foreign and Institutional Buying
Institutions Log Largest Daily Net Purchase of 3.5 Trillion Won This Year

Yonhap News Agency

On March 18, the KOSPI surged more than 5%, breaking through the 5,900-point mark. The KOSDAQ also experienced favorable momentum, rising more than 2%.

On this day, the KOSPI closed at 5,925.03, up 5.04% from the previous trading day. It opened at 5,767.10, up 2.24% from the previous day, and continued to expand its gains throughout the session.

At 2:34:13 p.m., about an hour before the market closed, a buy-side sidecar (a temporary suspension of program buy orders) was triggered. The buy-side sidecar is activated when the KOSPI 200 futures price rises by 5% or more from the reference price and this condition persists for at least one minute. In the KOSPI market this year, the buy-side sidecar was triggered for the first time in six trading days since March 10. Year-to-date, it has been triggered nine times in total (four buy-side, five sell-side).

It is believed that simultaneous buying by foreign investors and institutions pushed the index higher. They recorded net purchases of 1.2463 trillion won and 3.4931 trillion won, respectively. Foreign investors turned to net buyers for the first time in six trading days since March 10. The daily net purchases by institutional investors were also the largest so far this year. In contrast, individual investors recorded net sales of 4.5998 trillion won.

All sectors rose except for paper & wood products, which declined by 0.99%. The gains in construction (8.12%) and electrical & electronics (7.34%) were particularly notable. The insurance (6.09%), manufacturing (5.64%), medical & precision instruments (4.13%), financials (4.04%), retail (3.60%), chemicals (3.50%), and electricity & gas (3.41%) sectors followed.

The top 10 stocks by market capitalization also recorded strong gains. SK Hynix (8.2%), SK Square (7.5%), and Samsung Electronics (6.7%) led the increase. They were followed by Kia (5.0%), Hyundai Motor (4.0%), Doosan Enerbility (2.8%), and Samsung Biologics (2.6%). Among the top 10, only Hanwha Aerospace fell, declining by 0.2%.

The KOSDAQ market also saw positive sentiment. It finished trading at 1,164.38, up 2.41% from the previous day. After starting more than 1.7% higher than the previous session, it maintained its upward trend throughout the day.

In the KOSDAQ market, foreign investors were the only net buyers, with net purchases of 485.6 billion won. Individual and institutional investors recorded net sales of 352.2 billion won and 33.3 billion won, respectively.

Most sectors rose. Medical & precision instruments (4.28%), pharmaceuticals (3.56%), machinery & equipment (3.48%), manufacturing (3.06%), and electrical & electronics (3.10%) all posted gains of more than 3%. In contrast, food & beverage & tobacco (-0.62%) and metals (-0.61%) declined.

All of the top 10 stocks by market capitalization rose. Samchundang Pharm (5.8%), Leeno Industrial (5.8%), and Peptron (4.9%) recorded the largest increases. They were followed by Ecopro (3.1%), ABL Bio (2.5%), Rainbow Robotics (2.0%), and Ecopro BM (1.4%).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.