AMSTERDAM (AP) – Global stocks posted further gains Tuesday as concerns over a cash crunch in China eased. Trading volumes were light in shortened Christmas Eve sessions.Most markets have been strong in general over the past week following figures showing the U.S. economy is performing better than expected. The advance has also come despite the Federal Reserve's decision to start reducing its monetary stimulus by $10 billion to $75 billion from January. Many had feared the decision to rein in it

Dec. 24, 2013

The credit card industry is likely to undergo another period of heated competition in the saturated market, as Hana Financial Group plans to launch a merged entity between Hana SK Card and Korea Exchange Bank’s credit services unit next year.KEB, one of the two major commercial banks of Hana Financial Group, said in a statement Tuesday that it has decided to spin off its credit card business.According to group executives, KEB Card will later be absorbed into Hana SK Card. “After going through fi

Dec. 24, 2013

Lawmakers of the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee decided Tuesday to postpone the legislation of an amendment that involves levying income taxes on religious groups.Twelve committee lawmakers tentatively reached a consensus to impose income taxes on priests and Buddhist monks, but they still needed further discussion over the matter.The committee said it would try to put the revision into legislation during the next session of the National Assembly in February 2014.The governme

Dec. 24, 2013

South Korea’s terms of trade improved for the ninth consecutive month in November as import prices fell at a faster pace than export costs, the central bank said Monday.The country’s net terms-of-trade index for goods ― a gauge of trade terms ― came in at 89.7 in November, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.The index is calculated by dividing the export price index by the import price index. The base year is 2010 with a benchmark index of 100.The BOK said import p

Dec. 24, 2013

Korea’s finance minister Tuesday called on the heads of public organizations to push for active debt reduction and other self-rescue efforts with a “sense of crisis” to successfully carry out the ongoing overhaul drive for the public sector. The remarks were made by Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok during a meeting with the chief executive officers of 38 public companies, which are under the government’s close supervision for their lax management and soaring debt problems.On Dec. 11, the government

Dec. 24, 2013

NongHyup Financial Group Inc. was picked Tuesday as the preferred bidder for three units of state-run Woori Finance Holdings Co., as the government pushes for the long-pending privatization aimed at recouping the bailout money put in more than a decade ago.South Korea's largest banking firm by asset chose NongHyup to buy Woori Investment & Securities Co., WooriAviva Life Insurance Co. and Woori FG Savings Bank at a board meeting, the bank said. Woori Asset Management Co., also included in the sa

Dec. 24, 2013

Deposits at South Korean banks increased sharply this year as there are few viable investment destinations for investors to park their money amid persistent economic uncertainties, industry data showed Tuesday.According to the data, outstanding deposits at local banks stood at 1,179 trillion won ($1.11 trillion) as of end-November, up 43.2 trillion won from the end of last year.The end-November figure already surpassed last year’s rise of 37 trillion won in total, the data showed.The data also s

Dec. 24, 2013

Total assets owned by the government, companies and individuals in South Korea grew 3.5 percent on-year in 2012 due to an increase in land and other tangible fixed assets, data showed Tuesday.According to the data provided by Statistics Korea, they held a combined 8,677.4 trillion won ($8.18 trillion) worth of assets at the end of 2012, up from 8,382.1 trillion won tallied in 2011.It is 2.2 times larger than in 2002 when they held about 3,925.5 trillion won, the data showed.The increase is due t

Dec. 24, 2013

South Korean stocks advanced 0.24 percent Tuesday as a string of strong data from the U.S. continued to boost market sentiment here, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The country's key stock index, the KOSPI, advanced 4.7 points to finish at 2,001.59. Trading volume was light at 204 million shares worth 3.07 trillion won ($2.89 billion) with gainers outpacing decliners 459 to 330. Analysts said sound economic growth data from the world's largest economy underpinned

Dec. 24, 2013

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Monday that the government would consider re-designating KDB Financial, Korea Development Bank and the Industrial Bank of Korea as “public institutions.”The Finance Ministry said that it planned to look into the possibility of including the state-controlled banks in its category of public-sector enterprises during its regular meeting next month.“The government will consider the option of reclassifying KDB Financial, KDB Bank and IBK as public institution

Dec. 23, 2013

Foreign investors bought 13.15 billion won ($12.39 billion) worth of Korean shares in the second half of this year, concentrating heavily on electronics while offloading holdings of food and beverage stocks, according to tallies from the Korea Exchange on Monday.Data dated from the end of July to Dec. 18 showed their stock purchases were the highest in amount since the second half of 2010.The value of their stocks increased from 33.87 percent of the total at the end of June to the current 35.57

Dec. 23, 2013

Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea’s top electronics company, said Monday that it has posted a firm gain in the North American home appliance market in 2013 on the back of its premium line-ups.The Asian tech giant said its sales in the home appliances sector have jumped 14 percent on-year since 2008 in the North American market. The company, however, did not give details on the exact sales figures.Samsung attributed the year’s strong performance to its premium home appliances line-ups such as

Dec. 23, 2013

South Korean stocks rose 0.68 percent Monday as investors were cheered by strong growth data from the United States, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The country's key stock index, the KOSPI, advanced 13.54 points to finish at 1,996.89. Trading volume was light at 218 million shares worth 3.17 trillion won ($2.99 billion) with gainers outpacing decliners 491 to 310. Analysts said sound economic growth data from the world's largest economy underpinned investor senti

Dec. 23, 2013

South Korean stocks traded 0.73 percent higher late Monday morning, led by gains in tech and automaking firms, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.51 points to 1,997.86 as of 11:10 a.m.Samsung Electronics, the largest market cap, rose 0.56 percent, and SK hynix advanced 3.54 percent.Industry leader Hyundai Motor gained 1.56 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors surged 2.01 percent.Financial shares also remained in positive terrain, with Hyundai

Dec. 23, 2013

A Bitcoin exchange in South Korea said Monday that it will provide real-time market data on the virtual currency on its website starting this week.So far, buyers and sellers have had access to only the latest transaction volume and value of Bitcoins, but now they will be able to monitor real-time market data streams on the cybercurrency, according to the currency exchange Korbit (www.korbit.co.kr).Bitcoin, a cryptography-based digital currency that advocates say is counterfeit proof, was introdu

Dec. 23, 2013

Lee Hae-jin, chairman of the board of directors at Naver Corp., recorded the highest increase in valuation gains this year among stock-rich businesspeople in Korea, according to data released Monday. Lee saw the value of his shares in two companies including Naver soar 675 billion won ($63.6 million), or 133 percent, from 507.4 billion won recorded at the end of December last year to 1.2 trillion won as of Thursday, according to FnGuide, a market research firm.The combined value of stock shares

Dec. 23, 2013