South Korea’s main stock exchange will launch after-hours trading from 4pm to 8pm starting Monday, in a step toward its goal of 24-hour trading to attract more global investors, the first among major exchanges in Asia.
Serving as a step towards 24-hour trading starting in December 2027, trading for almost all local stocks, including Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ), will be enabled through 8pm, while closing prices of stocks remain at 3.30pm, as after-hours trading prices are not official.
This can reveal the local stock market's ability to maintain sufficient liquidity and whether investors need additional trading time, according to South Korean media.
Investment alert issues, investment risk issues and stocks that did not trade during the day are all excluded. Exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded notes are not open for trading due to volatility concerns.
Transactions operate similarly to intraday trading.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388) currently allows trading from 9.30am to 4pm on weekdays, with a one-hour lunch break. Chief executive Bonnie Chan Yi-ting had previously revealed plans to propose new trading hours for the cash market to improve accessibility for investors, following London Stock Exchange's launching of its round-the-clock trading hours in July.
