Seoul stocks open tad lower on profit-taking

South Korean stocks opened a tad lower Wednesday as investors attempted to cash in recent gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 3.55 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,440.03 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The index came to a muted start after a 0.65 percent gain in the previous session hitting an over two-year high. In Seoul, most large caps traded lower. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.49 percent, with No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix shedding 1.59 percent. In

Sept. 16, 2020

Seoul stocks up for 4th day to over 2-year high on tech gains, vaccine hopes

South Korean shares extended their winning streak to a fourth session on Tuesday to close at a more than two-year high, helped by advances in tech heavyweights and progress in coronavirus vaccine development. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 15.67 points, or 0.65 percent, to close at 2,443.58. Tuesday's closing marks the highest since June 12, 2018, when the index closed at 2,468.83 points. Trading volume was moderate at

Sept. 15, 2020

PAG exits from only Korean portfolio company at discount

Hong Kong-based private equity investor PAG Asia Capital exited from Korean toy maker Young Toys by selling its entire stake for some 150 billion won ($127 million) to an investor consortium led by local book publisher MiraeN. The transaction was closed earlier last week, according to deal adviser BDA Partners, after the proposed buyer and seller inked a sales and purchase agreement for 100 percent stake in Young Toys in August. MiraeN declined to comment on deal terms. “We’re pro

Sept. 15, 2020

S. Korea's brokerages put limits on credit offering amid surging loan balance

Amid the snowballing volume of personal credit loans taken out for stock investments, Korea’s securities firms are increasingly suspending their credit financing services, local industry sources said Tuesday. Samsung Securities, the brokerage arm of the Samsung conglomerate, announced a day earlier that it would temporarily stop the purchase of credit loans as the firm had reached its limit on credit offerings. This marked the second time since July 22 that Samsung put the brakes on its

Sept. 15, 2020

Complaints against financial firms surge 15% amid pandemic

The number of consumer complaints brought against local financial companies jumped 15 percent on-year in the first-half of 2020, mainly related to the mis-selling of private equity funds and a surge in requests for loans to counter the coronavirus impact, data showed Tuesday.  According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service, the financial watchdog received a total of 45,922 consumer complaints against securities firms, commercial banks, insurance companies and credit card operat

Sept. 15, 2020

Seoul stocks open tad higher on brisk M&As, vaccine hopes

South Korean shares open slightly higher Tuesday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains that stemmed from brisk M&A deals and progress in coronavirus vaccine development. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 2.73 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,430.64 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment was boosted by progress made in large acquisition deals by large firms for tech and bio blue chips, including the video-sharing app TikTok and drugmaker Immunomedics

Sept. 15, 2020

Seoul stocks rally on tech gains, eased virus curbs

South Korean shares jumped more than 1 percent Monday on the back of advances in tech shares and eased social distancing measures against the new coronavirus in the country. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 31.22 points, or 1.3 percent, to close at 2,427.91. Trading volume was moderate at about 953 million shares worth some 11.9 trillion won ($10.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 645 to 218. Foreigners bought a

Sept. 14, 2020

Investor deposits for IPO subscriptions in S. Korea exceed W150tr

South Korean investors have poured over 150 trillion won ($126.71 billion) into initial public offerings this year, 1.5 times more than last year, reflecting investors’ thirst for profit at a time of ultralow interest rates and high liquidity in the market, industry sources said Monday. Investor deposits for IPO subscription in the local market came to 150.9 trillion won from January to Thursday. In contrast, the figure for the whole of last year stood at 99.4 trillion won. Despite the

Sept. 14, 2020

[Contribution] What happens when the US Dollar weakens?

The Korea Herald is running a regular contribution series written by senior investment strategists at Standard Chartered Group Wealth Management. -- Ed. The US dollar has started to decline in value over the past few months, with the benchmark US dollar Index down about 9 percent since its March 2020 peak. This naturally raises questions on whether this US dollar weakness can extend, and whether this has broader implications for investors. We are of the view that there is room for the doll

Sept. 14, 2020

Card issuers fined for leaking customer data

Korea’s three leading credit card companies -- Kookmin Card, Lotte Card and NongHyup Card -- have been slapped with fines for mishandling customer data. The Supreme Court on Monday confirmed a lower court’s verdict to fine the three card issuers between 10 million won ($8,450) and 15 million won for violating the Personal Information Protection Act. The companies were accused of mishandling customer data as they had let subcontractors freely gain access to customers’ infor

Sept. 14, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on tech gains, eased virus curbs

South Korean shares opened higher Monday, buoyed by tech gains and eased social distancing measures. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 17.38 points, or 0.73 percent, to 2,414.07 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The index rose above the 2,400-point mark as chipmakers continued to gain despite lingering valuation pressure on tech heavyweights in major economies. Investor sentiment also improved as the South Korean government eased the social distancing level to Level 2 in

Sept. 14, 2020

Analysts cast doubt on Shinhan‘s motive behind PE-backed capital increase

Shinhan Financial Group’s plan to increase capital, list new common shares and invite foreign private equity firms as new shareholders in October has left local market watchers with doubts about the motivation behind the move. Last week, the nation‘s No. 1 banking group by total assets said the fundraising is aimed at a securing long-term capital buffer amid COVID-19 uncertainties and a new growth driver in its global business. Questions still linger, according to analysts here, a

Sept. 13, 2020

PEI to hold PERE Seoul event virtually

Financial intelligence firm PEI said Sunday it plans to host its PERE Investor Forum: Seoul Virtual Experience 2020 on Tuesday. The virtual event is designed to connect South Korean investors with global fund managers and investment advisers to get a glimpse of the future capital flows in the real estate investment scene in and out of Korea through virtual sessions. Sharing the persepctives of Korean institutional investors will be representatives of the Public Officials Benefit Association,

Sept. 13, 2020

S. Korea ranks 9th in investment attractiveness

South Korea made a top 10 list of attractive investment destinations around the world, but remained at the bottom among comparable Asian nations, according to a report Sunday. The report recently published by European think tank The European House Ambrosetti showed Korea scored 80.06 in the global attractiveness index, ninth highest among 144 nations. The GAI is decided by gauging a nation’s capability to attract foreign investment and its investment environment. In 2016, when such

Sept. 13, 2020

Cushman & Wakefield wins real estate adviser award

Global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield won the top commercial real estate adviser and consultant spot by Euromoney’s 2020 Real Estate Survey for the third consecutive year, the company said Sunday. Euromoney Real Estate Survey’s country result also showed that Cushman & Wakefield’s Korean unit won the award here, along with other 15 countries including the United States, Japan and China. “The success of winning the Euromoney Real Estate Awards in

Sept. 13, 2020

Authorities to rein in surging credit loans

Responding to an explosive surge in Korean lenders’ credit loans extended to borrowers, financial authorities have embarked on working-level talks with banking circles to implement selective loan regulations, officials said Sunday.  The move came as outstanding unsecured loans extended to individuals by the nation’s five major banks -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup -- surged to 124.3 trillion won ($105 billion) as of end-August, up 4.1 trillion won from Jul

Sept. 13, 2020

[News Focus] Brokerage credits for stock buying up 120 percent since April

SEJONG -- The balance for credit-based stock purchases has shot up about 120 percent in South Korean capital market over the past five months to reach an all-time high. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, the outstanding credit for stock buying offered by brokerages came to 17.21 trillion won ($14.49 billion) as of Sept. 10. By market, investors, including individual investors, owe brokerages for stocks worth 8.61 trillion on the first-tier Kospi and worth 8.51 trillion w

Sept. 13, 2020

[Decoding Shareholders] Is Shinhan breaking ties with Korean-Japanese shareholders?

This is a part of a series exploring the governance structure of financial giants in South Korea and examining diversity and transparency in boardrooms. -- Ed. Shinhan Financial Group has, for many years, been distinguished from its industry peers by its biggest group of shareholders -- Korean Japanese individuals believed to hold some 15 percent stake in the firm combined. This is due to its unique beginnings, born as Shinhan Bank -- now the holding group’s flagship unit -- from an inv

Sept. 13, 2020

Seoul shares to encounter volatility in coming week

South Korean shares are likely to trade in a tight range in the coming week on valuation concerns, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,396.69 points on Friday, up 1.2 percent from 2,368.25 a week ago. The index wavered the entire week, roiled by more investors questioning whether stock prices had risen too far beyond their proper values. Such hesitation was a factor in the last session, which finished nearly flat, up 0.01 percent. Local analyst

Sept. 12, 2020

Asiana takeover deal falls through, creditors to inject more funds for stabilization

Creditors of Asiana Airlines announced Friday that they would pull the plug on a stalled deal to sell the cash-strapped airline to property developer HDC Hyundai Development Co. after 10 months of negotiations. They also decided to inject an additional 2.4 trillion won ($2.02 billion) in industrial stabilization funds to normalize operations at the air carrier for another disposal attempt. “Today, Kumho Industrial Co. has notified HDC Hyundai Development Co. that the merger and acquisiti

Sept. 11, 2020