[Edaily Reporter Kim Hyung-il ] The KOSDAQ surged by more than 6%, triggering the 31st “buy-side sidecar” of the year. This was driven by buying momentum—centered on semiconductors and biotech—fueled by expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) amid a slowdown in U.S. employment, causing both the KOSDAQ 150 futures and the index to rise by more than 6% in tandem.

On the 11th, the Korea Exchange announced that it had triggered a buy-side car on the KOSDAQ market at 9:50 a.m. This occurred after KOSDAQ 150 futures rose 6.05% and the KOSDAQ 150 index climbed 6.25% compared to the previous trading day’s closing prices, with these gains persisting for more than one minute. The exchange suspended the effectiveness of program buy orders for five minutes starting from the time of activation.

This is the 31st time a buy-side sidecar has been triggered this year. So far this year, it has been triggered 18 times on the buy side and 13 times on the sell side. At the time of activation, program trading recorded a net buy of 132 billion won.

According to MP Doctor, as of 10:23 a.m. that day, the KOSDAQ was trading at 847.97, up 49.16 points (6.15%) from the previous trading day. There were 1,345 gainers (including 4 hitting the daily price limit), 77 stocks unchanged, and 294 decliners. The KOSPI also showed an upward trend, rising 53.61 points (0.86%) from the previous trading day to 6,312.38.

Trading activity was concentrated on the KOSDAQ market. Foreign and institutional investors made net purchases of 174.4 billion won and 213.1 billion won, respectively, absorbing the net selling volume of 382.9 billion won by retail investors. In contrast, on the KOSPI, institutions made net purchases of 342.6 billion won and retail investors made net purchases of 41.3 billion won, while foreign investors made net sales of 401.6 billion won as they took profits.

Top-market-cap stocks also showed across-the-board strength. Alteogen Inc.(196170)(15.41%) surged sharply, while JUSUNG ENGINEERING Co.,Ltd.(036930)(11.27%), WONIK IPS Co.,Ltd.(240810)(9.63%), HLB INC.(028300)(9.38%), ABL Bio Inc.(298380)(8.78%), ECOPRO CO., LTD(086520)(7.79%), ECOPRO BM CO., LTD.(247540)(7.38%), and LEENO Industrial Inc(058470)(5.94%) all rose in tandem, driving the index higher.

The sharp rally continued among individual stocks as well. LK SAMYANG(225190), From Bio Co., Ltd.(377220), and #Paratech Company Limited rose to near their daily price limits, while #VitzroSys., Co. LTD, AbClon Inc.(174900), RF Materials(327260), Qurient Co., Ltd.(115180), and Voronoi, Inc.(310210) also posted significant gains.

Overnight, the New York stock market rose, led by tech stocks, as U.S. July nonfarm payrolls came in below market expectations, easing concerns over the Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening. The securities industry views the slowdown in U.S. employment as actually reducing the likelihood of further interest rate hikes by the Fed, thereby improving investor sentiment.

Kang Jin-hyuk, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Securities, said, “Tech stocks performed strongly as concerns over monetary tightening eased due to weak U.S. employment data,” adding, “Rotational trading is likely to continue in the domestic stock market, centered on non-semiconductor sectors such as batteries and biotech.”

Han Ji-young, an analyst at KIWOOM Securities, said, “This week, key factors affecting the domestic stock market will include the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI), TSMC’s July revenue, and earnings reports from AI-related companies such as Cisco, CoreWeave, and Applied Materials (AMAT).” “If these companies post solid earnings, concerns over a slowdown in the AI and memory semiconductor sectors will ease, and there is a possibility that foreign investors—who sold off semiconductor stocks in large numbers last week—will resume buying,” she said.