Seoul shares down 0.15 pct in late morning trade

South Korean stocks traded 0.15 percent lower late Wednesday morning, led by losses in techs and carmakers.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 2.91 points to 1,914.14 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech shares continued to trade lower, with Samsung Electronics falling 0.62 percent and LG Electronics losing 0.55 percent.Samsung SDI, a local plasma display panel maker, decreased 0.6 percent.Hyundai Motor, the country's top carmaker, lost 1.26 percent and its auto parts affiliate Hyundai

July 31, 2013

Seoul shares open lower ahead of economic data releases

South Korean stocks opened a tad lower Wednesday as investors took a wait-and-see approach on advanced countries' July economic data slated to be announced this week, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 2.81 points, or 0.15 percent, to 1,914.24 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech shares traded lower, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 0.31 percent and its domestic rival LG Electronics losing 0.41 percent. Flat panel maker LG Display shed 0

July 31, 2013

KONEX posts sluggish growth since launch: data

South Korea's new venture-driven stock market has posted stagnant growth since its launch earlier this month, data showed Wednesday, as its low trading volume has dented investors' sentiment.The Korea New Exchange (KONEX) market saw its market capitalization reach 497.3 billion won ($446.6 million) Tuesday, a tad higher than 468.8 billion won tallied on July 1, the Korea Exchange (KRX) data showed.The KONEX market was officially launched earlier this month to foster the growth of young venture f

July 31, 2013

Woori Finance's sale value estimated at 5.4 tln won: regulator

The deal to sell state-run Woori Finance Holdings Co. is estimated to fetch at least 5.42 trillion won ($4.85 billion), the financial regulator said Wednesday, amid the government's push to wrap up the long-pending privatization of the banking giant. The Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country's top financial regulator in charge of the Woori sale, said the estimated value has grown by 1.9 trillion won from the figure it came up with a year earlier. The latest sale value was estimated ba

July 31, 2013

Savings banks' net losses nearly halve in 2012

South Korean savings banks saw their net losses nearly halve in fiscal 2012 from a year earlier, as they reduced loss reserves upon the stringent restructuring after a whirl of bankruptcies, the financial regulator said Wednesday. The combined net loss of 91 savings banks here came in at 880.3 billion won ($791.9 million) between July 2012 and June this year, down 45.9 percent from the 1.7 trillion-won net loss logged in the previous fiscal year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (F

July 31, 2013

Woori Financial to kick off brokerage unit sale

The state-funded Woori Financial Group will convene a board of directors’ meeting on Wednesday to support policymakers’ plan to sell Woori Investment & Securities.After the board meeting, the nation’s largest financial group ― which holds a 38.85 percent stake in Woori Investment ― is scheduled to make an official announcement in August on the sale of the stock brokerage unit.Though the government has the authority to sell Woori Bank and provincial lenders, the brokerage unit sale is to be initi

July 30, 2013

Public enterprises to increase investment in second half

Korea’s state-owned enterprises plan to increase investments of about 510 billion won ($458.5 million) for infrastructure and energy development projects in the second half of this year, the government said Tuesday.The 14 public enterprises are budgeted to spend 53.4 trillion won this year, including 1 trillion won allocated from supplementary spending.Public enterprises invested about 40 percent of the 1 trillion won in the first half of this year.The increase in public investment comes as the

July 30, 2013

Banking groups’ earnings likely to be worst in years

Financial holding companies in South Korea are expected to perform the worst this year since the 2008 global financial crisis, dented by the low-rate policy and corporate defaults, the financial regulator said Tuesday. Twelve banking groups, including No. 1 player Woori Finance Holdings Co., are estimated to log a combined net profit of 7.3 trillion won ($6.56 billion) in 2013, down 25.5 percent from the previous year, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. The forecast will

July 30, 2013

Seoul shares gain 0.9 pct ahead of FOMC meeting

South Korean stocks closed 0.9 percent higher Tuesday, as investors kept a wary eye on the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary meeting in regards to the tapering of its stimulus, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 17.16 points to finish at 1,917.05. Trading volume was moderate at 362.4 million shares worth 3.54 trillion won (US$3.17 billion) with gainers outstripping decliners 483 to 305.   "We know that the

July 30, 2013

Pension service snaps up auto, financial firm shares

The National Pension Service bought a large sum of shares related to automobile and financial companies in the first half of this year, officials said Monday. The Financial Supervisory Service posted on its official website that NPS’ share in Hyundai Motor Group, the country’s No. 1 automaker, rose 1.04 percentage point to 6.99 percent. Financial research and consulting firm FnGuide noted a conspicuous increase in the state pension service’s stock purchase in transportation equipment and auto pa

July 29, 2013

Korea to support export of capital market infrastructure: FSC chief

Financial authorities are set to pave the way for the stock brokerage sector to focus on exports of infrastructure for capital market operations, the chief supervisory official said on Monday.“Advancement into foreign countries is an unavoidable choice as the domestic market is saturating,” Financial Services Commission head Shin Je-yoon told a group of chiefs of lobby groups for the securities and accounting industry.Shin said policymakers planned to carry out the policy under which Korea would

July 29, 2013

LG Uplus swings to black in Q2

LG Uplus Corp., South Korea’s No. 3 mobile carrier, said on Monday it swung to the black in the second quarter from a year earlier largely thanks to increased profit from its wireless service.Net profit reached 81.5 billion won ($73.5 million) in the April-June period, compared with a loss of 32.1 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales slipped 0.9 percent on-year to reach 2.76 trillion won in the second quarter, and operating income reached 145 billion won, als

July 29, 2013

Seoul shares down 0.57 pct ahead of FOMC meeting

 South Korean stocks closed 0.57 percent lower Monday as investors took a wait-and-see approach ahead of the policy-setting meeting of the United States Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) slated for this week, analysts said.The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 10.92 points to close at 1,899.89. Trading volume was moderate at 331.6 million shares worth 4.08 trillion won (US$3.67 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 58

July 29, 2013

Korea to ease taxes to boost investment

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said that it would lower taxes on transactions between parent companies and their subsidiaries or affiliates in a bid to improve business sentiment in the second half of this year.Also, the Finance Ministry is moving to extend the tax deduction benefits on credit card spending by workers on average salaries until next year to subdue the contention following the government’s plan to end such a deductible system.In a meeting with corporate executive members of

July 28, 2013

Authorities push to extend restructuring stimulus period

State authorities are pushing to give three more years to the government’s stimulus policies for corporate restructuring, financial sources said on Sunday.The existing corporate restructuring stimulus policy, scheduled to be in effect until Dec. 31, 2013, will be extended to the same day of 2016 if the policy proposal is able to gain lawmakers’ approval. The restructuring stimulus act in question, which allows indebted firms to continue business operations over the course of clearing debt, is co

July 28, 2013

Rising inflation to hit Korea in second half

The Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance may have to readjust their inflation forecast for the second half of this year and next year as they did for growth projections amid increasing inflationary pressure, industry sources said.Korea is expected to see double-digit increases in public transportation, electric utility and taxi fees, according to data from the central bank, Statistics Korea and private consumer reports.Such rising prices, on the back of increasing oil prices, c

July 28, 2013

Shares expected to rise on eased Q2 earnings woes

South Korean stocks are expected to trade higher this week on abated concerns over the listed firms’ second-quarter earnings, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 1,910.81 points on Friday, up 2.2 percent from the previous week.Earlier last week, Seoul shares gathered ground as the pledge by financial leaders of the Group of 20 to support growth boosted investor sentiment.Market watchers earlier expected that local stock market will remain flat this week as Jap

July 28, 2013

Consumer advocate to protest financial regulators on rates

A financial consumer advocate on Friday criticized financial authorities for glossing over some commercial banks’ alleged rigging of interest rates.“Regulators such as the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service are neglecting their duties,” said a spokeswoman for the Korea Consumer Agency.Her remarks came after the special board, which comprises regulatory officials and lawyers, earlier in the day rejected some 200 borrowers’ call, led by KCA, for the FSS to launch a

July 26, 2013