South Korea’s benchmark index soared as much as 6% to an intraday high of 8,982 on Thursday, extending gains for a second straight session and taking its two-day rally to nearly 10%.
The sharp rally forced the Korea Exchange to briefly halt trading shortly after the open after the Kospi surged more than 5%. The bourse operator activated a buy-side sidecar, suspending program trading in Kospi-listed shares for five minutes as markets opened.
