South Korea's Korea Exchange Extends Stock Trading to 8 p.m.

RegulationIndustry
โดย Seeking Alpha·KR·Read original
Summary · why it matters

South Korea's main stock exchange is extending trading until 8 p.m. starting Monday, making Korea Exchange the first major Asian bourse to offer such extensive evening trading. Investors will be able to trade nearly all locally listed stocks for another 4½ hours after the regular 3:30 p.m. close, with about 2,400 stocks listed on the Kospi and Kosdaq markets eligible along with short selling, while exchange-traded funds are excluded for now. Korea Exchange also plans to introduce premarket trading by the end of 2027. The move follows a powerful but volatile year for South Korean equities, in which the Kospi more than doubled before a July selloff erased 22% from its peak, though the benchmark remains up 64% in 2026 as the best-performing major stock index worldwide. The initiative could make Korean shares more accessible to investors in Europe and allow faster reactions to after-hours news, potentially boosting the appeal of major stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, but thin evening volume could produce wider bid-ask spreads, sharper price swings and higher trading costs, particularly for large orders. South Korea already has some experience with extended trading through Nextrade, an alternative trading platform launched in March 2025 that offers premarket and evening sessions in roughly 600 stocks and captured almost one-third of local trading activity within several months, although retail investors generated more than 80% of its volume outside regular hours.

Impact on stocks 3

Semiconductors▲ · 1 stocks
SK Hynix Inc
000660
± Mixedrelevance

Mentioned only as a major stock that could benefit from extended trading hours; no company-specific development.

Artificial Intelligence▲ · 1 stocks
Others▲ · 1 stocks
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