Korea Exchange after-market draws heavy retail trading, sharp volatility

Kim Ji-ho stared at his stock trading app in confusion on Monday evening. He knew that the after-hours market was opening and noticed that a stock he was interested in had risen 10 percent. But by the time he returned from the bathroom, all the gains had disappeared. "It was a little scary, so I don't think I'll be trading in the after-hours market for a while," said Kim, a 25-year-old college student. For investors who eagerly jumped in, the experience was not entirely satisfying either. Some brokerages experienced technical glitches, while some investors said the new system was confusing because they could not easily distinguish regular-session closing prices from prices in the after-hours session. Others said the separate Korea Exchange (KRX) and Nextrade after-hours markets made trading more cumbersome and confusing, as investors had to choose between two different order screens. The KRX extended stock trading hours Monday, allowing almost all listed stocks to be traded between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Until now, Nextrade, an alternative trading system, had been the only option for after-hou