Seoul shares open lower on weak U.S. tapering woes

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday as the rising woes over an earlier-than-expected tapering of U.S. quantitative easing dented investors' sentiment, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 9.62 points, or 0.48 percent, to 1,999.74 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech shares traded lower, with No. 1 Samsung Electronics moving down 1.03 percent and its rival LG Electronics falling 0.75 percent. Flat panel maker LG Display shed 1.05 percent.Shipbuilder

Dec. 4, 2013

Foreign financial firms urged to bolster internal controls

The nation’s top financial watchdog urged foreign financial firms operating in Korea to strengthen their internal controls to prevent financial wrongdoings.Financial Supervisory Service Governor Choi Soo-hyun issued the call when he met a group of CEOs of foreign financial companies in Seoul on Tuesday.“Foreign financial firm CEOs need to pay attention to in-house control and involve themselves directly in the efforts to prevent financial mishaps,” he said, adding that the misconduct and wrongdo

Dec. 3, 2013

Korea to allocate W11tr in housing loans

The government will provide mortgage loans worth 11 trillion won ($10 billion) next year to vitalize the sagging real estate market, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Wednesday.Further, the Land Ministry ― in coordination with the Finance Ministry ― plans to set the housing-purchase annual lending rates at between 2.8-3.6 percent in a bid to ease the financial burdens on middle- and low-income households.The Land Ministry, however, said it would cut the number of new “Happy

Dec. 3, 2013

Green Climate Fund kicks off in Songdo

The Green Climate Fund will kick off its operations in Korea on Wednesday, with a fund-raising operation on a similar scale to that of the International Monetary Fund.In late 2012, Songdo in Incheon was chosen as the permanent home to the environment-oriented fund, beating two major competitors ― Geneva, Switzerland, and Bonn, Germany ― in the competition to host the secretariat.Its total fund-raising is estimated to reach $800 billion (880 trillion won) in the coming years, approaching the leve

Dec. 3, 2013

Seoul shares drop 1 pct on Fed stimulus tapering woes

South Korean stocks sank more than 1 percent on Tuesday on concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may start reducing its stimulus measures earlier than expected on robust economic data, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 21.42 points, or 1.05 percent, to 2,009.36. Trading volume was low at 290 million shares worth 3.59 trillion won ($3.38 billion) with losers outpacing gainers 223 to 588.Analysts said the

Dec. 3, 2013

Seoul shares trade lower in late-morning trade

South Korean stocks traded 0.63 percent lower late Tuesday morning amid woes that the United States may start tapering its economic stimulus moves earlier than expected, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 12.80 points to 2,017.98 as of 11:20 a.m.Carmakers traded lower, with No. 1 Hyundai Motor falling 4.21 percent and top auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis decreasing 3.53 percent. Kia Motors shed 4.87 percent.Brokerage houses also lost ground, with Samsung Sec

Dec. 3, 2013

KB Financial places bid for two Woori units

KB Financial Group made its bid Monday to buy two affiliates of Woori Finance Holdings Co., as the government moves a step closer to privatizing the state-run banking group, officials said.The second-largest South Korean banking firm submitted its bid to take over Woori F&I Co., the debt investment unit, and auto insurance arm Woori Financial Co., according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and bank officials familiar with the matter.Four other financial companies, including local broke

Dec. 2, 2013

Budget fallout to affect jobs, infrastructure projects

Government officials warned that Korea will face a catastrophic effect equivalent to the U.S. government shutdown in October if the National Assembly does not pass the 2014 budget bill by year-end.Lawmakers failed to pass the budget by the legal deadline on Monday due to political strife between the ruling and opposition parties over key national and economic issues, including tax revision and the appointment of an audit chief.Korean lawmakers have not passed the annual budget for 11 straight ye

Dec. 2, 2013

Seoul shares close lower on weak Black Friday sales in U.S.

South Korean stocks closed lower Monday as investors sat on the sidelines on weaker-than-expected Black Friday sales in the United States, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 14.09 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,030.78. Trading volume was low at 224.3 million shares worth 3.2 trillion won ($3.02 billion) with losers outpacing gainers 525 to 299.Analysts said the local stock market lost ground as the weaker-t

Dec. 2, 2013

Seoul shares trade 0.15 pct lower in late-morning trade

South Korean stocks traded 0.15 percent lower late Monday morning due to the lack of growth momentum in the market, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 3.14 points to 2,041.73 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech shares lost ground, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 0.27 percent and its smaller local rival LG Electronics losing 0.88 percent. Flat panel maker LG Display also decreased 0.61 percent.Logistics firms also traded lower, with Hyundai Glovis moving

Dec. 2, 2013

QE tapering feared to hit Korean brokerage houses, card firms

Korean brokerage houses and card companies are feared to face worsening profitability as the Federal Reserve's possible tapering of monetary stimulus will jack up borrowing costs, the top central banker said Monday.Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo said that an internal stress test showed that rises in market rates, triggered by the tapering of the Fed's quantitative easing (QE), is not likely to pose a threat to financial stability, but local securities companies and card firms are feared

Dec. 2, 2013

Seoul shares open higher on carmakers, financials

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday due mainly to gains by carmakers and financial firms, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 2.38 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,047.25 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Carmakers gathered ground, with No. 1 Hyundai Motor rising 0.6 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors adding 0.17 percent. Auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis rose 0.98 percent.Financial firms also traded bullish, with Shinhan Financial moving up 2.13

Dec. 2, 2013

Korea to crack down on state firms’ debt

Lawmakers of the Strategy and Finance Committee of the National Assembly have called for tougher measures against 12 state-run enterprises whose debt has nearly doubled over the last five years.In a report by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance submitted to the committee, the aggregate debt of 12 state-owned enterprises reached about 305.2 trillion won ($288.4 billion) at the end of last year, up from 158.6 trillion won in 2008.Korea Land & Housing Corp. had the highest debt of about 100 trilli

Dec. 1, 2013

Seoul shares to trade higher amid eased U.S. woes

The South Korean stock market is expected to trade higher next week amid abated uncertainty over the U.S.’ tapering of quantitative easing, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark KOSPI gained 2 percent Friday from a week earlier to close at 2,044.87.Earlier this week, Seoul shares gathered ground on the back of a foreign-led buying rally amid abated concerns over a tapering of economic stimulus moves by the U.S. Federal Reserve.The local stock market also remained bullish later in the week on the

Dec. 1, 2013

S. Korea's trade surplus widens in Nov.

South Korea's trade surplus widened from a year earlier in November as its exports grew slightly while imports inched down, the government said Sunday.The country's outbound shipments came to a little over $47.91 billion, up 0.2 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Imports, on the other hand, slipped 0.6 percent on-year to some $43.11 billion. Trade surplus came to about $4.8 billion, marking the 22nd consecutive month the country posted

Dec. 1, 2013

Seoul to consider joining Pacific trade pact: minister

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said Friday that the government needs to carefully review Korea’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership called TPP, a U.S.-led move to create a free trade bloc linking Pacific Rim states.Speaking at a meeting with trade-related ministers, Hyun said it is necessary for the government to express interest in the participation in the TPP and to hold bilateral preliminary consultations with the participating countries.The U.S. has spear

Nov. 29, 2013