Seoul: The bourse operator on Thursday triggered a sell-side sidecar for the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), temporarily halting program trading after the index plunged sharply amid renewed concerns over an escalation in the Middle East.

According to Yonhap News Agency, program trading for the KOSPI was suspended for five minutes at around 2:46 p.m., after the index fell more than 5 percent. The Korea Exchange (KRX) noted that a sell-side sidecar is triggered when the KOSPI 200 futures index drops 5 percent or more for at least one minute.