SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Tuesday, lifting the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) by more than 4 percent in early trade and triggering a buy-side sidecar as investors sought bargains in large-cap shares.
The Korea Exchange said the buy-side sidecar was activated at 9:26 a.m. local time, marking the first such move in about 10 months since April 10 last year, reported Maeil Business Newspaper.
Under exchange rules, a KOSPI buy-side sidecar is triggered when KOSPI 200 futures rise more than 5 percent from the base price for at least one minute, temporarily suspending program buying orders for five minutes.
At the time of activation, KOSPI 200 futures jumped 5.05 percent from the previous session to 759.15.
The market rebound followed a sharp decline a day earlier, when a sell-side sidecar had been triggered amid heavy losses. ■