Seoul stocks start higher on tech, auto gains

South Korean shares opened higher Tuesday on the back of gains in tech and auto stocks, extending gains after hitting fresh yearly highs a day earlier. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 5.15 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,036.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics gaining 0.06 percent. Major chipmaker SK hynix fell 1.14 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor rose 1.5 percent, and its affiliate Kia Motors inched up 0.6

Aug. 9, 2016

Korean investors flock to high-return bond funds

South Korean investors have been putting a large amount of money in high-return bond funds amid weak economic growth this year, with stock funds suffering a massive outflow, data showed Tuesday.According to the data by fund researcher Zeroin, local investors added a net 5.87 trillion won ($5.3 billion) into funds investing in domestic and overseas bonds between the start of this year and last Friday.In contrast, a net 4.6 trillion won exited investment funds reserved for local and overseas stock

Aug. 9, 2016

Seoul stocks hit yearly highs on positive U.S. jobs data

South Korean stocks rose to hit fresh yearly highs Monday as positive U.S. jobs data eased concerns about the pace of an economic slowdown. The Korean won gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 13.18 points, or 0.65 percent, to close at 2,031.12. Trade volume was slim at 266 million shares worth 4.09 trillion won (US$3.68 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 420 to 387.Last Friday, fueled by stronger than expected job data, U.S. stocks set more

Aug. 8, 2016

[Monitor] Top 10 chaebol take up half of stock market cap

Listed units of Korea’s top 10 conglomerates account for slightly over half of the country’s stock market capitalization, showed data by corporate tracker CEO Score last week. The 181 listed subsidiaries of the 10 largest family-controlled business groups had a combined market capitalization of 778.5 trillion won ($700 billion) as of end-July, or 51.2 percent of the value of all shares traded on the main bourse.

Aug. 8, 2016

PEF industry suffering from indigestion

In Korea’s young, yet fast-evolving private equity market, the road to investment exits is the weakest link, fraught with difficulties and a lack of valid options, said veteran lawyers who have witnessed the local industry’s very inception and rapid growth over the past decade. “By any measure, growth in private equity in Korea has been exponential -- the money committed, executed or the number of private equity houses registered,” Lee Haeng-gyu, a lawyer and partner at law firm Jipyong said in

Aug. 8, 2016

Hancom challenges Microsoft in office programs

If there is a South Korean word-processing developer that can take on the almighty Microsoft Word in the local market, it would be Hancom.The Kosdaq-listed Hancom is the only company here that develops the Korean word processor Hangul.And its presence continues to grow in the local word processing scene, especially after Hancom was exclusively selected by the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education last June as the lead provider of Office suite programs.Microsoft is clearly the leader and consum

Aug. 8, 2016

S&P upgrades Korea's sovereign rating to record high of AA

Global credit appraiser Standard & Poor's raised South Korea's sovereign rating one notch to a record high of AA from AA- on Monday, with a stable outlook on the country's steady growth and flexible fiscal and monetary policies."The upgrade reflects our assessment that Korea's strong record of steady growth has generated a prosperous economy, greater fiscal and monetary flexibility, and continual improvements in external metrics," the company said in a statement."Our ratings on Korea reflects th

Aug. 8, 2016

Korean shares up in late morning trading

South Korean shares traded higher late Monday morning, backed by positive U.S. job data that eased concerns about the pace of an economic slowdown.    The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 4.77 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,022.71 as of 11:20 a.m.Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 0.19 percent, and global chipmaker SK hynix down 0.86 percent.Top carmaker Hyundai Motor was flat, and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors traded 0.12 percent higher.POSC

Aug. 8, 2016

Insurance complaints drop 7.7% in H1

South Korean consumers' complaints of insurance companies fell more than 7 percent in the first half of 2016 from a year earlier, industry data showed Monday, on the back of efforts to better protect policyholders.The country's 24 life insurance companies and 16 nonlife insurers received a combined 33,343 consumer complaints in the January-June period, down 7.7 percent from a year earlier.Complaints against life insurers sank 13.3 percent on-year in the first half, with those against nonlife ins

Aug. 8, 2016

Seoul stocks start higher on Wall Street

outh Korean shares opened higher Monday following improved sentiment over recent days on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 7.48 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2,025.42 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics gaining 0.19 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.38 percent, and major chipmaker SK hynix rose 0.38 percent. Kia Motors, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor, rose 0.61 percent. The local currency was tra

Aug. 8, 2016

1 in 10 Korean stocks hit new high this year

One out of every 10 companies traded on South Korea's main bourse hit a new high this year on the back of a solid gain in the key market index, data showed Monday.According to the data by the Korea Exchange, 89 stocks, or 10 percent of the 889 firms listed on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, renewed their all-time highs between Jan. 3 and Aug. 3. During the cited period, the benchmark index KOSPI climbed 3.96 percent from a year earlier.The number, however, marks a 47.6 percent drop from t

Aug. 8, 2016

Financial watchdog says 32 firms need restructuring

South Korea's financial watchdog on Sunday said 32 big local firms should carry out restructuring, a move that could be aimed at keeping financially troubled companies from further hurting Asia's fourth-largest economy.The Financial Supervisory Service made the announcement after conducting a credit risk analysis on 602 companies, which were selected out of 1,973 owing over 50 billion won (US$44 million) to banks and showed signs of financial health problems.The FSS rated the 602 firms in a cate

Aug. 7, 2016

Seoul shares forecast to move in tight range next week

South Korean shares are expected to move upward in the coming week on the back of foreign buying on eased concerns over a U.S. interest rate hike and recovery in crude oil, but the gains will be limited by institutional selling, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,017.94 points on Friday, up 0.08 percent from a week ago. The index started on a positive note as weak U.S. economic growth data lowered the odds of an interest rate hike to reach this yea

Aug. 6, 2016

Korea to sell W1tr worth of Treasury bills in August

South Korea plans to sell 1 trillion won ($900 million) worth of Treasury bills this month to help stabilize the money market and cover government expenses, the finance ministry said Friday.The bills will have a maturity of 63 days and be sold in two separate auctions throughout the month, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.Treasury bills are designed to raise money to cover short-term financial shortfalls, and thus are generally sold with a maturity of less than a year.Following

Aug. 5, 2016

Banks' daily FX turnover down 6.7% in Q2

The daily foreign exchange turnover by local and foreign banks in South Korea dropped 6.7 percent in the second quarter from a quarter earlier due to a decreased volatility in the foreign-exchange market, the central bank said Friday.The daily FX turnover averaged $49.44 billion in the April to June period, compared to the previous quarter's 52.99 billion, according to the Bank of Korea.The first-quarter reading is the highest level ever, the BOK said.The daily trading volume of foreign exchange

Aug. 5, 2016

[Monitor] FX reserves rise

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in July to reach $371.38 billion, up $1.49 billion from the previous month, the Bank of Korea said Wednesday.

Aug. 4, 2016

Net lending of public sector up 94% in 2015

The net lending of South Korea's public sector jumped 94 percent on-year in 2015, posting a surplus for the second straight year, the country's central bank said Thursday.Net lending -- which refers to total revenue minus total expenditures -- came to 33.8 trillion won ($30 billion) in 2015, compared with 17.4 trillion won from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The bank said total revenue of the general government sector and public corporations reached a recor

Aug. 4, 2016

Seoul's investment climate mostly favorable to foreigners: report

South Korea's investment environment is mostly favorable to foreign companies with its speedy administrative process and low corporate tax rates especially appealing to investors, a report showed Thursday.However, sluggish population growth and the relatively low level of policy transparency serve as hurdles to foreign investment in Asia's fourth-largest economy, according to the report by the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.The report compares the market environments, manageri

Aug. 4, 2016

Foreign IBs cast gloomy outlook on Korea's H2 exports

Foreign investment banks (IBs) predict South Korea's slumping exports are unlikely make a rebound in the second half of this year due to a slew of unfavorable external conditions, a report showed Thursday.The report, based on foreign IBs' forecasts and compiled by the Korea Center for International Finance, comes as overseas shipments of Asia's fourth-largest economy have been on the decline for more than one and a half years amid weak global demand.South Korea's exports sank 10.2 percent in Jul

Aug. 4, 2016

Banks to introduce iris recognition system for mobile banking

Two of South Korea's major banks on Wednesday said they will use iris recognition as a biometric identification system for those who use mobile banking in the latest move to strengthen security.KEB Hana Bank and Woori Bank said they plan to introduce the system later this month in time with the launch of the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung's latest phablet that has an iris scanner.The two banks said the biometric identification system will be available only for those who will use the Galaxy Note 7.Samsun

Aug. 3, 2016