Korea Exchange pilots evening session to keep about 2,400 stocks trading until 8 p.m.

The Korea Exchange announced a pilot evening trading session that will keep roughly 2,400 KOSPI and KOSDAQ equities open until 8 p.m., extending the regular close of 3:30 p.m. Exchange‑traded funds are excluded and short‑selling will be permitted. The pilot follows the earlier Nextrade platform, which offered pre‑market and limited after‑hours trading for about 600 stocks. Market participants caution that the extra hours may simply shift liquidity rather than increase it overall. At the same time, participants at the KB Jefferies Korea Conference warned that the momentum of South Korea’s AI‑fuelled memory‑chip sector depends on continued capital‑market financing and could be affected by rising U.S. Treasury yields and geopolitical tensions.