South korea: South Korea's bourse operator on Friday activated a buy-side sidecar for the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) as the stock index rose sharply, fueled by tech gains.

According to Yonhap News Agency, program trading for the KOSPI-listed shares was suspended for five minutes at 9:06 a.m. soon after the market opened. This suspension came as a result of a significant surge in the index.

The KOSPI, which opened 1.15 percent higher, experienced an 11.05 percent increase by 9:07 a.m. This sharp rise in the index triggered the buy-side sidecar mechanism.

A buy-side sidecar is initiated when the KOSPI 200 Futures index sees an increase of 5 percent or more for at least one minute, prompting a temporary halt in program trading to stabilize the market.