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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Korea Information & Communication has been fully suspended from trading on the alternative trading system (ATS) NextTrade through June 30, as a precautionary measure following a sharp surge in trading volume.
According to NextTrade on April 21, trading of the stock has been halted across all sessions—including pre-market, main market, and after-hours trading—effective immediately. The move comes after the company’s share price nearly doubled in a short period, rising from KRW 7,830 on April 9 to KRW 15,910 on April 20. The rally was driven by news that the firm would participate as a payment infrastructure partner in a digital currency pilot project led by the Bank of Korea, positioning it as a key player in next-generation payment systems.
NextTrade explained that the stock’s surging trading volume, fueled by increased investor inflows, was approaching regulatory limits, prompting a preemptive suspension. Under current rules, ATS platforms cannot exceed 15% of total market average daily trading volume over a six-month period, while individual stocks are capped at 30%. A NextTrade official stated that the measure was taken to ensure compliance with per-stock volume limits.
This marks the first time NextTrade has suspended trading of a specific stock independently. Previously, the platform had reduced the number of tradable stocks in stages to manage volume limits—cutting 79 stocks in August, 66 in September, and 20 in November last year, and excluding an additional 50 stocks in February this year. Despite these efforts, rapid growth in pre-market and after-hours trading has repeatedly pushed volumes close to regulatory thresholds.
Market participants have raised concerns over growing investor confusion. In particular, those who primarily trade during pre-market and after-hours sessions have faced inconvenience as the number of available stocks has been abruptly reduced.
AlphaBIZ Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
