BOK sees room for more rate cuts, but wary

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Tuesday that he saw room for further monetary easing to rejuvenate growth, but was not convinced that an additional interest rate cut would spur consumption and investment under the current circumstances.  Bank of Korea headquarters in Seoul (Bloomberg)Meeting reporters after the central bank’s rate-setting board decided to freeze the base rate as widely expected, Lee said a further rate reduction from the current record-low level must be considered with cauti

Feb. 16, 2016

Japan economy shrinks during Q4 in body blow for 'Abenomics'

Japan's economy contracted in the last quarter of 2015, official data showed Monday, dealing another blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's faltering bid to boost growth.The figures will fan talk of fresh Bank of Japan measures, after policymakers shocked markets last month with an unprecedented negative interest rate policy -- widely seen as a desperate move to kickstart the world's number three economy.Weak demand for big-ticket items like cars and home appliances held back the vast economy which

Feb. 16, 2016

Banks face class-action suit over alleged rate fixing

 A local consumer advocacy group said Tuesday it will file a class-action lawsuit against local commercial banks for their suspected fixing of certificate of deposit (CD) rates.The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) found, after a years-long probe, "enough pieces of evidence" indicating the suspected collusion to fix the CD rates by six major banks including Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank. Fair Trade Commission (Yonhap)The lenders failed to freeze the CD rates for some time beginning in 2012 even after th

Feb. 16, 2016

Korea's exports tumble 18.8% in January

Korea's exports plunged at the fastest pace in six and a half years last month as global demand was hit hard by persistent low oil prices and a slowdown in China, customs data showed Tuesday.The country's outbound shipments stood at $36.6 billion in January, down 18.8 percent from a year earlier, extending the losing streak to 13 months, according to data compiled by the Korea Customs Service.The January figure marked the biggest on-year drop since August 2009 when exports nosedived 20.9 percent

Feb. 16, 2016

[Graphic News] Korea's donations as share of GDP

Despite the spread of charity activities in South Korea, the country still lags far behind advanced countries in terms of the ratio of donations to Gross Domestic Product, showed data on Sunday.According to a report released by the private Hyundai Research Institute, the nation’s donation amount continued to rise from 8.14 trillion won in 2006 to 12.49 trillion won in 2013. But its share in gross domestic product showed an immaterial increase during the same period. The share was 0.87 percent, n

Feb. 15, 2016

Soaring Tokyo leads Asia rebound, Shanghai down on return

Japanese investors shrugged off an economic contraction to propel stocks more than five percent Monday, leading an Asia recovery after last week's horror show.But Shanghai tumbled on its first day back from the Lunar New Year holiday and after data showed another fall in Chinese exports and imports last month, yet another sign of trouble in the world's number two economy.The broad gains across the region came after a surge in New York and Europe on Friday fuelled by a rally in oil prices and bar

Feb. 15, 2016

China's exports decline as trade surplus swells to record

 A slide in China’s exports in January was eclipsed by an even bigger tumble in imports, leaving a record trade surplus for the world’s biggest trading nation.Overseas shipments declined 11.2 percent in January in U.S. dollar terms from a year earlier, the customs administration said on Monday, compared with a 1.4 percent drop in December. Imports extended a stretch of declines to 15 months, tumbling 18.8 percent, leaving a record trade surplus of $63.3 billion.The slide in exports suggests the

Feb. 15, 2016

Japan's economy contracts in latest setback for Abe policies

Japan’s economy contracted at a worse than expected 1.4 percent annual pace last quarter as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s lavish stimulus policies failed to counter anemic consumer demand and sluggish exports.The preliminary data released Friday, which may be revised, shows the world’s third-largest economy stumbling again after a 1.3 percent expansion in the July-September quarter. The economy shrank 0.4 percent in the October-December quarter from the previous quarter. Despite the lackluster rep

Feb. 15, 2016

Import prices plunge to 8-year low in Jan.

Korea’s import prices fell to the lowest level in over eight years in January on declining crude oil prices, central bank data showed Monday.The import price index came to 75.16 last month, the lowest since the 74.86 posted in October 2007, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. Cargo is seen at Busan Port in Korea. (Yonhap)The January figure also marks a 1.3 percent drop from the previous month, quickening from a revised 1.1 percent on-month drop in December. From last year, it m

Feb. 15, 2016

Seoul shares open higher on New York gains

Korean share prices opened in the positive on Monday following gains in New York last week.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 18.62 points, or 1.01 percent, to 1,853.90 in the first 15 minutes of trading. An electronic board at the Korea Exchange in Seoul shows stocks changing hands. (Yonhap)The KOSPI was trading 1.54 percent higher at 1863.57 points as of 10:58 a.m.On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average added 2 percent to finish at 15,973.84, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq r

Feb. 15, 2016

BOK expected to hold steady on rate

Korea’s central bank is widely expected to freeze interest rates at the current record-low level at its rate-setting meeting Tuesday, while keeping a cut on the table for the next review.“There is certainly bigger pressure (now than before) on the Bank of Korea to slash interest rates and align its policy with a global easing trend,” said Yoo Sun-woong, fixed-income analyst at LIG Securities in Seoul. “But the BOK is likely to deem the time is not ripe yet for a rate change and instead choose to

Feb. 14, 2016

Korean markets jolted by global equity woes

Korean stocks took another drubbing from a plunge in Japan and other major equity markets Friday as panicked investors dumped shares. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 26.26 points, or 1.41 percent, to end at 1,835.28. This followed a nearly 3 percent plunge the previous day.Trading volume was moderate at 465.67 million shares worth 6.2 trillion won ($5.1 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 739 to 113.    The tech-

Feb. 12, 2016

Seoul shares open lower due to global market losses

Korean shares got off to a weak start on Friday, taking a cue from losses in global stock markets.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 16.06 points, or 0.86 percent, to 1,845.48 in the first 15 minutes of trading. KOSPI (Bloomberg)Major sectors started bearish, with the financial, chemical and medical sectors leading the anemic run.On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 1.6 percent as concerns over slowing growth weighed on the market. Japan‘s Nikkei 225

Feb. 12, 2016

Korea has OECD’s top R&D spending as proportion of GDP

South Korea ranked top among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries in terms of research and development spending as a proportion of gross domestic product, a report showed Thursday.According to the OECD report on the global state of science, technology and industry, Korea has superseded Israel as the world’s most R&D intensive country, spending 4.29 percent of GDP for this purpose in 2014. OECD countries spent an average of 2.37 percent of their GDP, the same level

Feb. 11, 2016

Economic growth largely driven by increased inventory: data

Korea's economic growth was largely fueled by a rise in inventories last year amid a deepening slump in domestic demand and industrial output, with its contribution hitting a five-year high, central bank data showed Thursday.The contribution of inventory stocks to economic growth reached 1.1 percentage points in 2015, while Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded 2.6 percent over the period, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea. The Bank of Korea (Yonhap)The figure marked the highe

Feb. 11, 2016

Hong Kong leads fresh Asia market sell-off

Hong Kong stocks plunged more than four percent to a more than three-year low Thursday, leading another sell-off across Asian markets and extending a global rout fanned by worries over the world economy.Comments from Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen virtually confirming the bank will not lift interest rates next month put further pressure on the beleaguered dollar, while the ongoing supply glut saw oil prices sink below $27 a barrel.Dealers continued their flight to safe investments that has pl

Feb. 11, 2016

BOK forecast to hold key rate steady for Feb.: poll

The Korean central bank is widely expected to stand pat on its key rate for another month in February despite weak signs of a recovery in the economy and exports that might require a rate hike down the road, a poll showed Thursday.In a monthly poll conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency, all 10 economists surveyed projected the Bank of Korea (BOK) to hold its policy rate frozen at 1.5 percent for February.The central bank has kept the key rate steady for seven

Feb. 11, 2016

Seoul shares open sharply lower on blue-chip slide

South Korean shares started over 2 percent lower Thursday as investors dumped blue chips on heightened worries over the global economy and growing geopolitical risk following North Korea's long-range rocket launch.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 40.52 points, or 2.11 percent, to 1,877.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading. KOSPI (Bloomberg)Recent setbacks in Japanese stocks set the gloomy tone for the Korean market, which started its first day of trading following

Feb. 11, 2016