Seoul shares up 0.2 pct on auto gains

South Korean stocks rose 0.2 percent on Tuesday, buoyed by automakers, but gains were limited as investors stepped to the sidelines ahead of major events, analysts said Tuesday. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 3.92 points to 1,985.83. Trading volume was moderate at 339.9 million shares worth 2.8 trillion won (US$2.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering decliners 435 to 366."Investors refrained from trading ahead of It

Feb. 19, 2013

Seoul shares up 0.25 pct in late-morning trade

South Korean stocks traded 0.25 percent higher late Tuesday morning on the back of gains in carmakers and construction firms, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved up 4.98 points to 1,986.89 as of 11:20 a.m.Carmakers led the market gain, with No. 1 player Hyundai Motor advancing 0.95 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors adding 1.9 percent. Top auto parts manufacturer Hyundai Mobis moved up 1.18 percent.Local builders also traded higher, with Daewoo E

Feb. 19, 2013

Samurai bond sales expected to rise in 2013 on weak yen

South Korean firms' sales of yen-denominated bonds are expected to increase this year as local companies seek to diversify funding sources amid Japan's quantitative easing, analysts said Tuesday.The combined value of Samurai bonds issued by local firms reached 317.7 billion yen ($3.38 billion) in 2012, rising sharply from 171.2 billion yen tallied two years earlier, industry data showed. Samurai bonds refer to yen-denominated debts issued by non-Japanese firms in the Japanese market.Market watch

Feb. 19, 2013

Foreign IBs say BOK's next move is rate cut

Major foreign investment banks expect the South Korean central bank to cut the key interest rate in March or April to support the country's economic growth, a report showed Tuesday.In a split decision, the Bank of Korea (BOK) froze the benchmark 7-day repo rate at 2.75 percent for the fourth straight month last Thursday on signs of the global economic recovery although a stronger won and geopolitical risks pose threats to the Korean economy.More than five foreign investment banks said that the B

Feb. 19, 2013

Seoul shares open higher on automakers

South Korean stocks began higher on Tuesday on the back of gains in major automakers, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched up 0.31 points, or 0.02 percent, to 1,982.22 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Autos led the climb with the country's top automaker Hyundai Motor gaining 0.72 percent and its parts affiliate Hyundai Mobis adding 0.84 percent. Some large caps, however, traded in negative territory, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics slipping 0.

Feb. 19, 2013

Scientists sense breakthroughs in dark-matter mystery

For decades, the strange substance called dark matter has teased physicists, challenging conventional notions of the cosmos.Today, though, scientists believe that with the help of multi-billion-dollar tools, they are closer than ever to piercing the mystery -- and the first clues may be unveiled just weeks from now."We are so excited because we believe we are on the threshold of a major discovery," said Michael Turner, director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of

TechnologyFeb. 18, 2013

Huh re-elected as FKI chief

Huh Chang-soo, the chief of energy and construction giant GS Group, was re-elected as chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), South Korea's largest business lobby, officials said Monday.The board of the FKI nominated Huh as the organization's next chief, and he accepted the renomination, according to the officials.Huh, 65, assumed the top post at the FKI in February 2011.The FKI chief earlier hinted at his possible reappointment, saying it depends on other members of the board.The

IndustryFeb. 18, 2013

[Power Korea] Korean Air: Luxury in the sky

Korean Air hopes to offer more premium, exclusive in-flight services. At the forefront of its efforts is the A380 jumbo jet, the world’s largest jet airliner, nicknamed the “hotel in the sky.”Korean Air was the first Northeast Asian airline that adopted the A380 in 2011. It has six of the aircraft in service, plying the routes to New York, Los Angeles, Frankfurt and Hong Kong. The Korean flag carrier has also made the experience onboard the A380 even more luxurious by operating the upper deck ex

IndustryFeb. 18, 2013

KEPCO seeks to boost small companies’ exports

The Korea Electric Power Corp., South Korea’s state-run power company, announced a set of measures Monday to help the country’s small and medium enterprises boost their exports.Under its new 15-point support measure, KEPCO will purchase 5 trillion won ($4.63 billion) worth of parts and labor from SMEs this year, up from around 4 trillion won in 2012, it said.The company will also provide up to 1 billion won, compared with 500 million won last year, in research and development support funds to ea

Feb. 18, 2013

Biz sentiment among self-employed worsens

SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― Business sentiment among the self-employed in South Korea worsened in January, data showed Monday, indicating that the prolonged sluggish domestic consumption is presenting tough market conditions for many small-sized business owners. According to data by the Small Enterprise Development Agency, the business survey index among self-employed people for the current market conditions stood at 65.5 last month, down 24.3 from a month earlier. It also dropped by 17.3 from a year

Feb. 18, 2013

Shares end almost flat on weakening yen

South Korean stocks closed nearly flat on Monday as lingering concerns over a weakening Japanese yen weighed on major exporters, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched up 0.73 points, or 0.04 percent, to 1,981.91. Trading volume was moderate at 411.6 million shares worth 2.8 trillion won ($2.6 billion) with decliners outnumbering gainers 412 to 383.“The G-20 meeting kept mum on the weakening Japanese yen. There has be

Feb. 18, 2013

LG to increase output of OLED TV panels

LG Display will invest 706.3 billion won ($655 million) to add a new production line for large-sized organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, panels for televisions, the company said on Monday in a corporate filing. The new line, called the M2 line, is located in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and will have a monthly production capacity of 26,000 units. LG Display said it would aim for mass production during the first half of next year, as part of its plans to dominate the OLED TV market over the next s

TechnologyFeb. 18, 2013

Hotels earn more from food, weddings

Hotels, especially five-star ones in Seoul, earned much more from restaurants, conventions and weddings than from room charges.At five-star, or superdeluxe, hotels with more than 300 guest rooms, income from food and other services amounted to more than twice the revenue of room charges in 2011, according to data from the Financial Supervisory Service and Statistics Korea.As for the 23 superdeluxe hotels with 300-plus guest rooms in Seoul, room charges accounted for 29.1 percent of their entire

IndustryFeb. 18, 2013

Floating capital hits record high

Korea saw a record high level of capital invested in short-term financial instruments as dim outlooks on the economy made investors reluctant to invest in assets with long maturities.Short-term investments ― floating capital that can be immediately transferrable ― in financial products such as securities accounts, repurchase agreements and money market funds amounted to a record 666 trillion won ($617 billion) in December 2012, according to data from the Bank of Korea and Korea Financial Investm

Feb. 18, 2013