Foreign investment banks (IBs) are predicting South Korea's key stock index could rise as much as to the 2,380 mark next year on the back of improved economic conditions here and abroad, a report showed Wednesday. JP Morgan suggested the benchmark KOSPI will move within a range of 2,090-2,380 in 2013 as monetary easing and an increase in exports will likely fuel growth, according to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance (KCIF). As of Dec. 4, the main index has moved up 6 perce

IndustryDec. 5, 2012

South Korea's central bank said Wednesday it increased its holdings of gold in November, the second time this year, in a bid to diversify its portfolio of foreign exchange reserves.South Korea purchased 14 tons of gold, raising the country's gold holdings to 84.4 tons valued at $3.76 billion at the end of November, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).The move marked the BOK's fourth purchase of the precious metal since the bank bought it in July last year for the first time in 13 years. It also

Dec. 5, 2012

South Korea's top central banker on Wednesday expressed hopes that the move by Korea and China to boost the use of their currencies for trade settlement would dispel talks over whether to extend the existing currency swap line.Korea and China have agreed to use their bilateral currency swap line valued at 360 billion yuan ($57.8 billion) to bolster the use of the won and the yuan for trade settlement.Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo said in a meeting with experts from foreign investment b

Dec. 5, 2012

South Korean home appliance giant LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday it has signed an agreement with U.S. home appliance retailer Lowe’s as part of efforts to expand its reach into the world’s largest market.Under the agreement, LG will supply its home appliance products, including refrigerators and washers, to Lowe’s nationwide chains and online store starting next year, according to LG Electronics.“More U.S. consumers will be able to experience LG’s high-efficient home appliance products,” said

Dec. 4, 2012

The Galaxy S3, Samsung Electronics Co.’s flagship smartphone, is sweeping year-end awards given to the “smartphone of the year” by overseas IT media, market watchers said Tuesday.The Samsung smartphone recently grabbed the “best mobile phone of the year” award from British tech media site Pocket-lint. It also received the “product of the year” prize in British IT media V3’s annual technology awards.The South Korean tech giant’s Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 10.1 were also touted as the best busine

Dec. 4, 2012

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Tuesday that it has taken 29 companies off the list that limits mutual investments and loan guarantees.The Fair Trade Commission said the number of corporate affiliates on the list stood at 1,802 of 62 business groups, down from 1,831 tallied in the previous month.The decline comes mostly from the exclusion of Eugene from the business groups subject to the restraints as the assets of its affiliates fell to 2.45 trillion won ($2.26 billion) following the sale

Dec. 4, 2012

South Korean stocks finished 0.25 percent lower on Tuesday as weak U.S. manufacturing data added onto investor concerns over budget issues in the world’s largest economy, analysts said. The local currency slipped against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 4.84 points to 1,935.18. Trading volume was light at 280.7 million shares worth 2.8 trillion won ($2.6 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 429 to 366.“Investors were disappointed with the weaker-than-

Dec. 4, 2012

Hyundai and Kia, which stumbled through a mileage overstatement scandal in late October, did not see any major consumer fallout in North America last month, posting record November sales in the U.S.Hyundai Motor said Tuesday that U.S. sales rose 8 percent to 53,487 vehicles last month, while its affiliate Kia Motors sold 41,055 units, up 11 percent over a year earlier. Amid an enhanced marketing offensive by Japanese carmakers, however, their combined market share fell slightly last month to 8.3

IndustryDec. 4, 2012

Global investment banks have forecast 2-3 percent growth for the Korean economy next year, 8 percent growth for China and negative growth for the eurozone.The recession in the eurozone will continue to weigh on major economies around the world including Korea, while China will continue on the recovery path, they said. Four of the 10 investment banks that made projections for the Korean economy revised down their outlooks in November compared to October. Half of the 10 investment banks projected

Dec. 4, 2012

South Korea’s central bank said Tuesday it has agreed with its Chinese counterpart to use the existing bilateral currency swap line in boosting trade settlement in the two countries’ currencies.In October of last year, South Korea and China agreed to double their won-yuan swap line to 360 billion yuan ($57.8 billion) in a bid to secure foreign exchange liquidity.The Bank of Korea said it will lend money to commercial banks by tapping the currency swap and local firms will be able to use the fund

Dec. 4, 2012

Up to 4 percent of baby girls born last year are likely to live up to 100 years, government figures showed on Tuesday. Out of the male infants, about 1 percent would live to be 100, according to Statistics Korea. This is the first time that the office, which announces life expectancy figures every year, indicated how long newborns would live to be. On average, the life expectancy for newborns born last year reached 81.2, up 0.4 years from the year before. Among them, males were expected to live

IndustryDec. 4, 2012

Africa is the last emerging market, tech giant Samsung Electronics said on Monday, putting emphasis on its long-term African sales operation.The electronics behemoth set a 2015 sales target of $10 billion, about four times its current sales performance in Africa. Separating its Africa and Middle East operations in 2009, Samsung set up an additional head office in the Republic of South Africa for stronger localization of its products in Africa. The move was also an attempt to expand its pool of c

TechnologyDec. 4, 2012

Free trade deals with the United States and the European Union have helped support South Korea’s exports, making up for declining overseas sales of the country’s goods affected by the prolonged global economic slump, customs data showed Tuesday.South Korea implemented free trade agreements with the U.S. and the EU in March of this year and July of last year, respectively. The worldwide economic slump led to a drop or relatively small growth in exports to those markets but sales of products benef

Dec. 4, 2012