Kospi Rises 0.31% to 7,516.04, Reclaims 7,500 After Sell Sidecar Trigger

South Korea’s Kospi reclaimed the 7,500 level on May 18, rebounding sharply after an early plunge triggered a temporary halt on program sell orders known as a sell sidecar. Easing concern over a strike at Samsung Electronics helped fuel the recovery.

The Kospi closed up 22.86 points, or 0.31%, at 7,516.04.

Earlier in the session, the index fell as much as 4.68% to 7,142.71. A sell sidecar was triggered at about 9:19 a.m. after Kospi 200 futures dropped more than 5% for longer than five minutes. It was the second straight trading day such a measure was activated, after May 15.

Sentiment shifted after remarks by President Lee Jae-myung directed at Samsung Electronics’ union. At about 9:30 a.m., reports said Lee had said corporate management rights should be respected as much as labor rights.

At about 11:13 a.m., reports said a court had moved to curb strike action by Samsung Electronics’ union. The Suwon District Court’s 31st Civil Division partially granted Samsung Electronics’ request for an injunction banning a strike. The court said the union was obligated to maintain staffing, operating hours, operating scale and duty of care at the facilities involved in the dispute at the same levels as on normal weekdays, weekends and holidays before the labor action.

Samsung Electronics, which fell as much as 3.14% early in the session, reversed course and closed 3.88% higher.

SK Hynix rose 1.15%.

Han Kyung-woo, Hankyung.com reporter case@hankyung.com