[Digital Today reporter Sangyeop Oh (오상엽)] A buy sidecar was triggered on both markets as the Kosdaq surged after the KOSPI. Bargain hunting flowed in, led by semiconductor shares, pushing the KOSPI up nearly 5 percent and the Kosdaq up more than 6 percent.

The Korea Exchange said it triggered a buy sidecar on the Kosdaq market at 1:08 p.m. on Thursday, temporarily suspending the effectiveness of program buy quotes.

At the time of the trigger, Kosdaq150 futures rose 84.80 points, or 6.04 percent, from the previous session to 1,487.40. The Kosdaq150 index was up 89.45 points, or 6.44 percent, at 1,476.37.

This was the 12th Kosdaq buy sidecar this year. Including 7 sell sidecars, the total number of Kosdaq sidecar triggers this year rose to 19. That matches the count in 2008.

A buy sidecar was triggered earlier on the main bourse. The exchange suspended program trading buy orders for 5 minutes at 12:54:55 p.m. on Thursday.

That brought the number of sidecar triggers on the main bourse this year to 34. Buy and sell sidecars were each triggered 17 times. Circuit breakers on the main bourse were also triggered 6 times this year.

With sidecar triggers repeatedly occurring in the KOSPI and Kosdaq this year, market volatility is continuing at a high level.