Kosdaq suspended following short-selling ban rally

Trading on the Kosdaq was halted for five minutes on Monday after the secondary market surged more than 5 percent.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show stock and foreign exchange markets open on Monday. [YONHAP]

Trading on the Kosdaq was halted for five minutes on Monday after the secondary market surged more than 5 percent.

The stock market operator Korea Exchange halted trading on the secondary market at 9:57 a.m.

This is the first time in three years and five months since June 16, 2020, that trading has been halted.

Additionally, this is the 12th time that a suspension of trading activities has been activated.

The program trading at the secondary market is halted when the Kosdaq 150 futures rise or fall for more than 6 percent or when the Kosdaq 150 index fluctuates more than 3 percent.

On Monday, the Kosdaq 150 futures rose 73.80 points or 6.02 percent compared to Friday's close, while the Kosdaq 150 index was 88.88 points or 7.3 percent higher.

The Korean stock markets have been enjoying a bullish rally since the government on Sunday announced suspending all short-selling until June.

The Kospi as of 11:30 a.m. is also trading at 86.38 points or 3.65 percent higher than the previous trading day, above 2,450.

This is the first time in nearly three years that the Kospi has risen nearly 90 points.

The Kospi on Feb. 25, 2021, closed 104.71 points or 3.5 percent higher than the previous day.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]