From the 31st, Derivatives Market Opens at 8:45 AM... What Are the Changes?

15-Minute Reduction in Opening Single Price Session
Bid Correction and Cancellation Restricted 1 Minute Before Session Ends
±8% Price Limit Applied Until Stock Market Opens

The derivatives market will open 15 minutes earlier than before starting July 31. The single price auction period will also be shortened by 15 minutes, and order corrections and cancellations will be restricted during the last minute before the single price auction ends. Additionally, until the stock market opens, the price limit for the derivatives market will be set at ±8%.

The Korea Exchange announced that from the 31st, the derivatives market will open at 8:45 AM. To prepare for this, from the 6th to the 13th, a notice of amendment to the detailed rules of the derivatives market will be issued, and opinions from market participants will be collected.

The early opening of the derivatives market applies only to futures, options, and futures spread products based on major stock indices. These products are based on KOSPI 200, KOSDAQ 150, and KRX 300 indices.

Even when regular trading hours change on days such as the beginning of the year or the College Scholastic Ability Test day, the derivatives market will open 15 minutes earlier than the stock market. For example, if the stock market opens late at 10 AM, the derivatives market will start at 9:45 AM.

Accordingly, the single price auction period in the derivatives market will be shortened from 30 minutes to 15 minutes. Previously, it was from 8:30 AM to 9:00 AM, but it will now change to 8:30 AM to 8:45 AM. However, market information such as expected transaction prices will continue to be announced from 8:40 AM as before.

During the last minute before the single price auction ends, order corrections and cancellations will be restricted. For derivatives market products, this restriction applies from 8:44 AM to 8:45 AM. For products not subject to early opening, it applies from 8:59 AM to 9:00 AM.

Also, until the stock market opens (8:45 AM to 9:00 AM), the price limit in the derivatives market will be ±8%. After 9:00 AM, if the contract price reaches the first stage upper or lower limit (±8%), the price limit will expand to ±15% (second stage) after 5 minutes.

The negotiated block trading time for early-opening derivatives products will be available from the early opening time (8:45 AM). Applications for correction of erroneous trades and relief requests for erroneous trades by large investors can also be made from the early opening time.

The calculation time for early-opening derivative indices such as the KOSPI 200 Futures Index, KOSDAQ 150 Futures Index, and KOSPI 200 Futures Leverage Index will be advanced by 15 minutes in line with the derivatives market trading hours.

Systems maintained as is include the deadline for post-trade margin deposits (10:00 AM), additional margin deposit deadline (12:00 PM), initial calculation time for intraday additional margin (9:01 AM), and settlement deadlines (10:00 AM for clients, 4:00 PM for members).

The Korea Exchange stated, "While promoting the early opening of the derivatives market, we are conducting thorough system integration tests with securities firms and related institutions," and added, "We will ensure flawless implementation without any issues."

Meanwhile, products based on the KOSPI 200 index include KOSPI 200 futures (including futures spreads), mini KOSPI 200 futures (including futures spreads), KOSPI 200 options (including weekly options), and mini KOSPI 200 options.

Products based on the KOSDAQ 150 index include KOSDAQ 150 futures (including futures spreads) and KOSDAQ 150 options. Products based on the KRX 300 index include KRX 300 futures (including futures spreads).

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