KOSPI surges on overnight US gains, buy-side sidecar activated

South Korea's bourse operator on Wednesday activated a buy-side sidecar for the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index after the index surged, driven by gains in technology stocks. Program trading for the KOSPI-listed shares was suspended for five minutes at 9:25 a.m., shortly after the market opened, according to the Korea Exchange. After opening 3.85 percent higher, the KOSPI climbed 4.53 percent as of 9:27 a.m. amid hopes for a possible agreement between the United States and Iran over t