Following U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks on "continuing strikes against Iran," both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets plunged, triggering consecutive sell-side sidecar interventions.

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

On the 2nd, at the dealing room of Hana Bank's head office in Jung-gu, Seoul, an employee is monitoring the stock market, exchange rates, and KOSDAQ. On this day, the KOSPI opened 1.33% higher than the previous trading day at 5551.59, and the KOSDAQ started with a 1.25% increase. Photo by Jo Yongjun

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On the 1st (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump is delivering a speech about the Iran war at the White House Cross Hall in Washington D.C. Photo by AP The Associated Press

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The KOSPI index is displayed on the status board in the dealing room at the Woori Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

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

At 2:34:32 p.m. on the same day, the KOSDAQ market also saw a five-minute suspension of program sell orders due to fluctuations in the KOSDAQ150 futures price and the spot index. This marked the first such event in about a month since March 9.

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

A KOSDAQ sidecar is triggered when the KOSDAQ150 futures price drops 6% or more from its reference price, and the KOSDAQ150 index falls 3% or more from the previous trading day's closing figure, with both conditions sustained for one minute.

On this day, the KOSPI closed at 5,234.05, down 244.65 points (4.47%) from the previous session. Although the index opened 72.99 points (1.33%) higher at 5,551.69, it reversed course and declined following President Trump's speech.