Individual investors lead trading in Korea Exchange’s new after-hours market

The Korea Exchange opened a live after-hours market in South Korea on Sept.

14, allowing trades in Kospi and Kosdaq shares from 4 p.m.

to 8 p.m.

In the market’s first 16 trading days, through Oct.

8, individuals made up 89.4% of trading value.

They were net buyers of Samsung Electronics preferred shares by 72.3 billion won, the largest amount for any stock.

They were net sellers of SK Hynix by 92.14 billion won, while foreign investors bought that stock most.

The exchange’s after-hours market averaged 1.2645 trillion won in daily trading value, about 4.78% of regular-session turnover.

Another after-hours venue, NextTrade, had higher average daily trading value overall, though the exchange handled more Kosdaq trading.

Longer trading hours give investors more time to trade, but thinner activity can mean prices move sharply on small orders.

The exchange has set up a special monitoring team through the end of the year to watch for unfair trading and other risks.