South Korean stocks spiked 1.13 percent Wednesday as investors' sentiment was heightened by upbeat economic data from China, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 21.13 points to close at 1,887.49. Trading volume was moderate at 378.4 million shares worth 3.97 trillion won ($3.54 billion) with gainers outpacing losers 498 to 296.Analysts said the rise came as foreign direct investment to China rose 20.12 perc

July 17, 2013

South Korean stocks traded higher late Wednesday morning on gains in carmakers and insurers, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 9.84 points to 1,876.20 as of 11:20 a.m.Automakers led the market gain, with Hyundai Motor adding 1.17 percent and its affiliate Kia Motors climbing 1.02 percent. Top auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis gained 1.38 percent.Insurance companies also traded higher, with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance rising 1.42 percent and Hanwha Life

July 17, 2013

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday as investors continued to take a wait-and-see approach on the United States' stimulus moves down the road, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 2.83 points, or 0.15 percent, to 1,863.53 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech shares traded lower, with handset maker LG Electronics falling 0.7 percent and top flat panel maker LG Display losing 0.18 percent. Samsung SDI, the world's top maker of plasma display panels,

July 17, 2013

The nation’s financial watchdog launched a probe into suspected illegal foreign exchange dealings by owners of paper companies established in overseas tax havens, officials said Tuesday.The Financial Supervisory Service said that the investigation was targeting 184 people who were disclosed by a news organization as holders of paper companies in tax havens abroad such as Virgin Islands. The investigation is the largest in scale of the financial watchdog’s probe into the alleged foreign exchange

July 16, 2013

The National Tax Service on Tuesday launched an investigation into four units of Lotte Shopping, which marked the first time in four years since September 2009.The tax agency dispatched some 150 inspectors into the headquarters of Lotte Department Store, Lotte Mart, Lotte Super and Lotte Cinema in Seoul to secure computer hard disks and internal financial statements.Market insiders alleged that the NTS will focus their probe on whether some of the Lotte units exploited tax loopholes or engaged i

July 16, 2013

South Korean stocks closed 0.47 percent lower Tuesday ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech on monetary policy slated for this week, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.8 points to finish at 1,866.36. Trading volume was moderate at 300 million shares worth 2.9 trillion won (US$2.63 billion) with gainers outpacing losers 405 to 393.Analysts said the market decline came as investors t

July 16, 2013

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday on losses in shares of large-cap exporters, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.59 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,870.75 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics slipped 0.8 percent, with Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipyard, shedding 0.3 percent. Net selling by foreigners and institutions lent support to the main index's bearish start, analysts added. The local cu

July 16, 2013

Financial regulators recently uncovered a variety of irregular business practices of NongHyup Bank, adding to the lender’s loss totaling 55 billion won ($47.8 million) that was publicized last week.The flagship unit of NongHyup Financial Group was found to have engaged in unauthorized lending worth 41.4 billion won, according to the Financial Supervisory Service on Monday.“In violation of the law, the bank’s bancassurance (sale of insurance products via bank branches) salespeople of were implica

July 15, 2013

South Korean stocks closed 0.28 percent higher Monday as China's economic growth for the second quarter met market estimates, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 5.18 points to finish at 1,875.16. Trading volume was moderate at 326.1 million shares worth 3.1 trillion won (US$2.8 billion) with gainers outpacing losers 436 to 355.Seoul shares gathered ground after China's National Bureau of Statistics said i

July 15, 2013

The volatility of the local currency against the U.S. dollar hit an 18-month high in the second quarter, largely due to the jitters in the foreign exchange market stemming from a weaker yen, the central bank's data showed Monday.The daily volatility rate of the won-dollar cross rate averaged 0.43 percent in the April-June period, the highest since 0.64 percent tallied in the fourth quarter of 2011 amid the Greece-led debt crisis in the eurozone, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

July 15, 2013

South Korean stocks traded 0.34 percent higher late Monday morning on reports that China's on-year economic growth for the second quarter met the market estimate of 7.5 percent, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 6.4 points to 1,876.38 as of 11:20 a.m.Carmakers led the market gain, with No. 1 player Hyundai Motor adding 1.44 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors rising 1.54 percent. Top auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis moved up 0.98 percent.Logistics

July 15, 2013

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Monday as investors sat on the sidelines amid the rising uncertainties over the Chinese economy and the U.S. firms' second-quarter earnings, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 14.02 points, or 0.75 percent to 1,855.96 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech blue chips lost ground, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics losing 1.22 percent and leading chipmaker SK hynix falling 1.4 percent. Top flat panel maker

July 15, 2013

Financial policymakers and authorities are on high alert as the government is expected to see a shortfall in tax revenue this year amid the economic slowdown.In a report to the Strategy and Finance Committee of the National Assembly on Sunday, the National Tax Service said that the shortfall would reach almost 10 trillion won ($8.9 billion) in the first half of this year, the biggest loss in four years since the global financial crisis.The report showed that the government has collected taxes wo

July 14, 2013

The country’s 10 largest conglomerates on average spared less in social donations despite raking in a larger net profit last year, Chaebul.com reported on Sunday. A total of seven conglomerates donated more funds for social contribution, but the remaining three gave considerably less, dragging down the average, said the portal devoted to information on top conglomerates here. The seven groups that gave more are Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG, Lotte, POSCO, Hanjin and Hanwha. Samsung Group made the m

July 14, 2013

South Korean stocks are expected to gather ground this week, allaying concerns on a sudden liquidity squeeze as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reassured that a loose monetary policy would be kept, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 1,869.98 on Friday, up 2 percent from the previous week. The main bourse moved in rangebound earlier in the week, as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of Bernanke’s speech. After the Fed chairman’s remarks backin

July 14, 2013

South Korean securities companies are estimated to have seen their bottom lines plunge in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 from a year earlier due mainly to a prolonged stock market slump, a market tracker said Sunday.According to financial information provider FnGuide, five of six major securities companies, which have three or more first-quarter earnings estimates, have suffered sharp declines in their bottom lines for the April-June period. Local securities firms close their books on March 31

July 14, 2013

A series of fiscal stimulus and monetary policy unveiled and implemented by the government and the central bank are apparently moving in the opposite direction to their intentions of boosting the financial markets and the real economy.Market interest rates have increased although the Bank of Korea opted for a looser monetary policy last May to lend a hand to the government’s extra fiscal spending. Credit spreads between corporate and government bonds have further widened despite efforts by finan

July 14, 2013

South Korea will likely collect 10 trillion won (US$8.9 billion) less in taxes during the first half than a year earlier, raising worries that the government might need to draft a second extra budget plan to fill the revenue gap, datashowed Sunday.According to the data submitted by the National Tax Service (NTS) to lawmakers, the government had collected 82.13 trillion won worth of taxes during the January-May period, which is about 9 trillion won less than the same period a year earlier.The tax

July 14, 2013