A sell sidecar was triggered in the Kosdaq market. Volatility in both markets appears to be rising as the sharp decline widens from the KOSPI to the Kosdaq.

The Korea Exchange said it triggered a sell sidecar in the Kosdaq market at 12:47 p.m. on Wednesday. This was the 17th sidecar activation in the Kosdaq market this year. Buy sidecars were triggered 11 times and sell sidecars 6 times.

According to the exchange, the near-month Kosdaq150 futures contract fell 6.05 percent to 1,584.40 points at 12:47 p.m. from the previous session's close of 1,686.60.

At the same time, the Kosdaq150 index fell 5.91 percent to 1,575.37 points from the previous session's close of 1,674.35. The sell sidecar was triggered after Kosdaq150 futures fell by at least 6 percent and the Kosdaq150 index fell by at least 3 percent for 1 minute.

Under the sell sidecar, the effect of program trading sell orders in the Kosdaq market was suspended for 5 minutes from the time of activation. The sidecar was automatically lifted 5 minutes after activation.

As of 12:47 p.m., program trading was tallied at net selling of 472.7 billion won.

A sidecar in the Kosdaq market is triggered when, among Kosdaq150 futures trading items, the price of the item with the highest trading volume in the previous session rises or falls by at least 6 percent, and the underlying futures-linked index rises or falls by at least 3 percent at the same time for 1 minute.

The exchange suspends the effect of program trading buy or sell orders for 5 minutes and then automatically lifts it. A sidecar is applied only once a day and is not triggered during the first 5 minutes after the start of the regular session, or from 40 minutes before the close.