1.8 tln won traded in first KRX after-hours stock trading session

On September 14, South Korea's Korea Exchange (KRX) launched its inaugural after-hours stock trading session, facilitating the trading of 1.8 trillion won (approximately US$1.33 billion) worth of securities. Operating from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. KST, the session spanned four hours following the standard 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. regular trading hours.

The new after-hours trading window was designed to bolster competition with global markets, mirroring the 23-hour trading days increasingly adopted by major U.S. exchanges like Nasdaq. As of the session's conclusion, 72.24 million shares, valued at 1.82 trillion won, were exchanged between the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the tech-focused Kosdaq. These figures represented 8.03% and 7.05% of the 900 million shares, worth 25.8 trillion won, that were traded during the traditional hours.

Prior to this launch, after-hours trading was confined to the alternative trading system Nextrade, from 3:40 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday saw 12.17 million shares, worth 1.78 trillion won, traded on the Nextrade platform. Unlike Nextrade, which restricted trading to 600 stocks, the new KRX session opened for trading the majority of listed stocks.

However, investors faced restrictions, unable to trade exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) during the after-hours period due to volatility concerns. As with the regular session, daily stock price limits and market stabilization measures, including circuit breakers, were enforced in the after-hours window.