"Trump Fallout": Sell-Side Sidecar Triggered on KOSPI and KOSDAQ (Comprehensive)

Following U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks about the "continued strikes on Iran," the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets plunged, triggering consecutive sell-side sidecar mechanisms.

As the domestic stock market experiences extreme volatility and a "rollercoaster market" due to the words coming from U.S. President Donald Trump, on April 2nd, at the Hana Bank headquarters dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, the KOSPI index, which rose before President Trump's national address (left photo), plunged more than 2% (right photo) after the speech, continuing its sharp decline. Photo by Cho Yongjun, April 2, 2026

According to the Korea Exchange, at 2:46:15 p.m. on April 2, the program sell order sidecar was triggered due to volatility in the KOSPI200 futures index, resulting in a five-minute suspension of the effectiveness of program sell orders. This is the first occurrence since March 23.

At the time the sidecar was triggered, the KOSPI200 futures index stood at 771.10, down 40.95 points (5.04%) from the previous day's closing price. A sell-side sidecar is triggered when the KOSPI200 futures index falls by 5% or more and remains at that level for one minute.

On the same day, at 2:34:32 p.m., the KOSDAQ market also experienced a five-minute suspension of the effectiveness of program sell orders, due to volatility in both the KOSDAQ150 futures price and the spot index. This was the first occurrence in about a month, since March 9.

At the time of the trigger, the KOSDAQ150 futures price was 1,818.40, down 116.40 points (6.01%) from the previous day's closing price, and the KOSDAQ150 spot index was 1,808.31, down 124.54 points (6.44%).

The KOSDAQ sidecar is triggered when the KOSDAQ150 futures price drops by 6% or more from its reference price and the KOSDAQ150 index falls by 3% or more from the final value of the previous trading day, with both declines lasting for one minute simultaneously.

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