Seoul stocks end almost flat amid valuation pressure

South Korean stocks closed nearly flat Thursday as investors cashed in gains from large-cap chip and auto stocks amid valuation pressure in sectors such as chipmaking and automaking. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 1.64 points, or 0.05 percent, to 3,149.93. Trading volume was high at about 1.2 billion shares worth around 23.8 trillion won ($21.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 518 to 320. Foreigners scooped up

Jan. 14, 2021

Half of Alzheimer’s patients show mild symptoms of dementia

Half of patients with Alzheimer’s disease have mild symptoms of dementia, a group of researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine said Wednesday. Using data from the Framingham Heart Study, the researchers found that 50.4 percent of the patients had mild symptoms, 30.3 percent had moderate symptoms and 19.3 percent had severe cases. The Framingham Heart Study is a long-term cardiovascular cohort study of residents of the city of Framingham, Massachusetts. The study began in

Jan. 14, 2021

Doosan Infracore gains upper hand in case involving its Chinese unit

Top construction equipment maker Doosan Infracore Co. on Thursday gained the upper hand in a lawsuit brought against it by investors in its Chinese unit Doosan Infracore China Co. (DICC) as the Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower court for retrial. The highest court ordered the appeals court to reconsider its ruling favorable to the financial investors including Mirae Asset Private Equity, saying that Doosan Infracore's failure to share information about its Chinese unit did not get in

Jan. 14, 2021

Dyson to open flagship store in Seoul this week

British home appliance maker Dyson Ltd. said Thursday it will open its first flagship store in South Korea this week as the company eyes to expand its sales amid the pandemic. Dyson Demo Store will open at IFC Mall in western Seoul on Friday, featuring all of Dyson's products and services. It is the first flagship store to be directly run by Dyson Korea since the Korean unit was established in 2018. "We want to offer a place where people can explore, test and try Dyson's full lineup of te

Jan. 14, 2021

Samsung unit signs collective agreement with labor union

Samsung Display Co. on Thursday signed a collective agreement with its labor union, becoming the first electronics affiliate of Samsung Group to ink such a deal. The agreement was reached about seven months after the management and the labor union started to negotiate on welfare programs and working condition improvements. Samsung Display is the first among Samsung Group's five major electronics affiliates, including Samsung Electronics Co. and Samsung SDI Co., to ink a collective agreement wi

Jan. 14, 2021

3- and 4-year-olds hooked on TV, smartphones: survey

Teo, who just turned 3 years old this month, is cared for by a babysitter until sunset, as day care centers have been partially shut down due to COVID-19. After dark, the situation changes. “When I work overtime at home past 6 in the evening, it’s the smartphone that keeps Teo company in the living room,” the mother of Teo sighed, as she admitted that smartphone usage at such a young age may not be the best option for a child. A recent survey has demonstrated that Teo is not

Jan. 14, 2021

Virus, scandals slow Korean private fund growth

The coronavirus pandemic and a series of hedge fund turmoils last year have impeded the growth of private funds managed by asset management companies in South Korea, data showed Thursday. According to data by the Korea Financial Investment Association, the combined assets managed by Korea-domiciled private funds grew 5.7 percent to 438.7 trillion won ($398.4 billion) in 2020, far lower than their 2019 growth which stood at 23.5 percent. Between 2014 and 2019, the funds grew 18.8 percent annual

Jan. 14, 2021

Banks' household loans grow by most in 2020

South Korean banks' household loans increased by the most last year, fueled by demand for home-backed lending and overdrafts for stock and property investments, central bank data showed Thursday. Outstanding bank loans to local households came to 988.8 trillion won ($896 billion) as of end-December, up 100.5 trillion won from the previous year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the largest on-year gain since 2004, when the central bank began compiling related data.

Jan. 14, 2021

S. Korea to obligate listed firms to disclose ESG data from 2025

  South Korea’s financial authorities on Thursday unveiled a comprehensive policy framework that obligates listed firms to disclose corporate information on investment activities related to environmental, social and governance standards, so-called ESG, in phases. Under the envisioned scheme jointly released by the policymaking Financial Services Commission, the market watchdog Financial Supervisory Service and the country’s sole bourse operator Korea Exchange, companies liste

Jan. 14, 2021

Starbucks’ first store with disabled staffs hailed as an exemplary

A month into its operation, Starbucks Coffee Korea’s first store committed to making a better workplace for workers with disabilities is showing early success, the coffee chain said Thursday. In early December, Starbucks Korea opened a new store inside Seoul National University Dental Hospital, filling half of its 12 staff positions with people with disabilities. From the initial design stage, the US-based coffee chain took in opinions to make the outlet a disability-friendly space fo

Jan. 14, 2021

S. Korea's smartphone market tipped to grow over 10% this year

The South Korean smartphone market is projected to grow 11 percent this year from a year earlier, a report showed Thursday, on the back of increased sales of 5G handsets. Smartphone shipments in South Korea are estimated to reach 19 million units this year, up from 17 million units a year ago, according to market researcher Counterpoint Research. It predicted that expanded 5G smartphone models and the release of smartphones with new form factors, such as foldables and rollables, will push up h

Jan. 14, 2021

M&As in semiconductor industry set record high value in 2020

The total value of mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor industry set an all-time high of $118 billion in 2020, according to a report by semiconductor market research firm IC Insights. The report pointed to five mega-agreements, along with more than a dozen smaller deals, that pushed the total M&A value over the previous record of $107.7 billion set in 2015. Announced in July, September and October, the five deals had a combined value of $94 billion to take up about 80 percent of

Jan. 14, 2021

Banks' loan delinquency rate remains unchanged in Nov.

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans remained flat in November from the previous month, the financial regulator said Thursday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.34 percent at the end of November, unchanged from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the bank loan delinquency rate was down 0.14 percentage point. Banks' loan delinquency rate remains stable mainly because the

Jan. 14, 2021

Bond, CD issuance in S. Korea surges 16% in 2020

Sales of bonds and certificates of deposits (CDs) in South Korea swelled more than 16 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, data showed Thursday. The value of those debt instruments issued last year came to 454.4 trillion won ($414 billion), up 16.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). Bond sales surged 19 percent on-year to 429.9 trillion won, while CD issuance sank 20 percent to 24.5 trillion won. Sales of special bonds floated by sta

Jan. 14, 2021

Auto exports sink over 20% on pandemic in 2020

South Korea's auto exports sank 21.4 percent on-year in 2020 as the new coronavirus pandemic disrupted global supply chains and sapped demand, data showed on Thursday. The country's shipments of cars reached 1.89 million units last year, compared with 2.4 million units posted in 2019, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, exports also moved down 13 percent to reach $37.4 billion. The number of cars shipped surrendered 33.9 percent on-

Jan. 14, 2021

SK hynix raises $2.5b via sale of foreign debts

SK hynix Inc., South Korea's second-largest chipmaker, on Thursday said it has raised $2.5 billion by selling debts overseas, which includes its first-ever green note, as it eyes to use funds to bolster its presence in the memory sector. SK hynix said it sold a 10-year green bond worth $1 billion to accelerate its environmental, social and governance (ESG) management, claiming it is the first among global semiconductor memory manufacturers to sell such a bond. A green bond is a special-purpose

Jan. 14, 2021

Seoul stocks open nearly flat amid valuation pressure

South Korean stocks opened almost flat Thursday on increased valuation pressure after the key index closed at a near all-time high the previous session. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 2.27 points, or 0.07 percent, to 3,150.56 in the first 20 minutes of trading. The main index started on a muted tone as foreigners and institutions are set to lock in gains after the key index's recent bullish run. Most large caps in Seoul traded mixed. Market bellwether Samsung El

Jan. 14, 2021

Retail investors' funds soar amid stock market rally

Retail investors' stock-related funds have risen by nearly 20 trillion ($18.2 billion) this year on the back of a surging stock market, industry data showed Thursday. Individuals' stock funds increased by 19.6 trillion won for eight sessions from Jan. 4-13, amounting to nearly 20 percent of last year's total. Those funds refer to money that retail investors use to buy stocks or deposit at securities companies to purchase shares. Over the cited period, individuals bought 10.8 trillion won wort

Jan. 14, 2021

S. Korea's export prices down for 5th straight month in December

South Korea's export prices fell for the fifth consecutive month in December last year as the local currency continued to strengthen against the US dollar, central bank data showed Thursday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, declined 0.1 percent in December from the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the fifth consecutive month of on-month decline after the index rose for the third month in a row in

Jan. 14, 2021

Samsung Biologics’ new CEO lays out vision for next decade

Samsung Biologics’ newly appointed CEO John Rim presented a multidimensional vision for the company’s next 10 years at the virtual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2021 on Wednesday. Key takeaways from Rim’s presentation involved more overseas facilities, early contract lock-ins for its fourth production base, which will complete construction in 2023, and capacity for new modalities such as vaccine and cell-gene therapies. “Our next decade will be marked by increased bu

Jan. 13, 2021