[Market Close-up] Stock market volatility spikes on concerns of second wave, foreign buying spree

Volatility in South Korea’s stock market rose this week on fears of a second wave of COVID-19 infections and return of foreign and institutional investors seeking to profit from undervalued stocks, analysts said Tuesday. Just a day after the two main domestic stock indexes saw the biggest drop in three months, both spiked over 5 percent Tuesday, causing the bourse operator Korea Exchange to halt stock trading for five minutes in the morning. At the closing bell, Kospi surged 107.23 point

June 16, 2020

Seoul stocks spike over 5% on Fed's asset purchase scheme

South Korean stocks spiked over 5 percent Tuesday on the Federal Reserve's plan to purchase corporate bonds, which fueled optimism over a quicker-than-expected recovery in the global economy. The Korean won sharply rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 107.23 points, or 5.28 percent, to close at 2,138.05. Trading volume was high at about 947 million shares worth some 13.4 trillion won ($11.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 868 to

June 16, 2020

Hyundai Card, Starbucks launch private label credit card

Hyundai Card said Tuesday it has forged a partnership with Starbucks Korea to launch a private label credit card in the second half of this year. The local credit card issuer will be in charge of marketing and operations. PLCC refers to a store-branded credit card -- applicable for either retail or wholesale manufacturers, such as department and specialty stores -- allowing users to enjoy all rewards provided by the partner company. It is Starbucks Korea’s first PLCC partnership sinc

June 16, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on Fed's bond purchase plan

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street that followed the US Federal Reserve's asset-buying plan against pandemic uncertainties. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 57.32 points, or 2.82 percent, to 2,088.14 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The bullish start followed the Fed's decision to start purchasing a "broad and diversified portfolio" of corporate bonds. The plan is part of the Fed's quantitative easing

June 16, 2020

Hanhwa Life accelerates digital transformation

Hanwha Life Insurance said Monday that it has completed organizational restructuring and promoted young executives in a bid to reinforce its digital technology capabilities. To secure future growth engines, the life insurance firm under Hanwha Group has assigned nine out of 15 business divisions to take the charge of digital transformation of the company and push for new businesses. Of the company’s entire 56 executives, 22 execs will lead the divisions related to digitalization and bus

June 16, 2020

Kakao Bank most-favored workplace for university students: survey

Kakao Bank, one of the largest online-only banks in South Korea, has been picked as the most popular workplace among university students here, according to a recent survey Monday. In the survey of 1,045 Korean university students conducted earlier this month by job recruiting portal Incruit, the online bank received 27 percent votes while KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank and Industrial Bank of Korea, gained 18 percent, 14 percent, and 11 percent, respectively. The biggest reasons that studen

June 15, 2020

IGIS Asset Management taps Singapore market

South Korea’s biggest real estate asset management firm IGIS Asset Management said Monday it has launched a new office in Singapore as part of its global expansion. The new branch, IGIS Asia, is the company’s third overseas base. It opened IGIS USA in New York and a London office last year. The company said it plans to expand its presence in Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific region by acquiring other investment firms or by establishing new regional entities. Its new Singaporean un

June 15, 2020

Seoul stocks sink almost 5% on another looming wave of virus outbreak

South Korean stocks sank almost 5 percent amid rising concerns of a second wave of the new coronavirus pandemic, extending their losing streak to a third consecutive session and dashing hopes for a sharp rebound in the global economy. The Korean won sharply fell against the US dollar. After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,031.04, down 101.26 points, or 4.75 percent, the sharpest fall since March 23. Trading volume was high at about 1.06 bil

June 15, 2020

SK Biopharmaceuticals eyes W960b blockbuster IPO in July

Seizure treatment developer SK Biopharmaceuticals said Monday it is planning what could be South Korea’s biggest initial public offering in three years, with hopes to raise nearly 1 trillion won ($822 million) in fresh funds. Through its market debut on the nation’s main bourse Kospi, scheduled July 2 if the IPO ends in success, the drug development unit of Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK plans to raise 959.34 billion won, which would be the largest fundraising attempt s

June 15, 2020

Seoul stocks open lower on coronavirus resurgence fears

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday amid global concerns of a coronavirus resurgence. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 13.74 points, or 0.64 percent, to 2,118.56 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The drop was largely attributed to investor concerns of a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic feared amid the rollback of economic lockdowns in major economies, analysts said. Most large caps traded lower. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 1.72 percent,

June 15, 2020

[Banks of Future] Security concerns overshadow fast-growing fintech industry

Recent unauthorized payments on money transfer platform Toss are stoking concerns about the safety of payment solutions in general and online financial services available in South Korea. Online purchases worth 9.38 million ($7,770) were made on websites without permission of Toss account holders earlier this month using their personal data. Although initial inspections by the financial authority showed that users’ personal data were not compromised via the fintech platform itself, the i

June 14, 2020

Commercial banks slash savings, checking account yields to near 0%

Korean commercial banks had cut their yields on savings and checking accounts to near zero as of Sunday, in line with the central bank’s move to slash its policy rate to a record low of 0.5 percent last month to combat economic risks from the coronavirus pandemic. Major commercial banks Shinhan, KB Kookmin and NH Nonghyup have lowered their yields on one-year savings and checking accounts -- which are most popular among customers here -- to a range of 0.3 percent to 0.75 percent, in rec

June 14, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘Start saving as early as possible for financial freedom in later years’

For many people in advanced economies, retirement means freedom. But for South Koreans, it means deteriorating health and reduced financial independence. Asia’s fourth-largest economy has its own pension system, a subscription-based national pension program and the basic income support for senior citizens living in poverty. Together they serve as an important social safety net. But that is not enough to ensure a healthy and independent life, according to Park Jin, who studies the rela

June 14, 2020

KRX sees gold trading double on tax benefit

The Korea Exchange, an exchange operator where securities, derivatives and commodities are traded, said Sunday its daily average of gold transactions had doubled this year as investors sought safe assets and a tax benefit took hold in January. The KRX has been trading on average of 93.6 kilograms of gold per day on its spot market from January until June 11, up 114.8 percent from the 2019 average at 43.6 kilograms. At the same time, the spot gold price on the KRX surged 18 percent. Besides i

June 14, 2020

Seoul stocks likely to suffer extended slump this week

South Korean shares are expected to hover below the psychologically important 2,200-point level this week amid concerns over a resurgence in the coronavirus, which will also cause investor sentiment to wobble, analysts said Sunday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,181.87 points Friday, down 2.3 percent from a week ago. The KOSPI has been struggling to stay above the 2,200-point threshold seen as a return to a level seen prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

June 14, 2020

Kospi cushions losses from Wall Street plunge

South Korea’s main stock bourse Kospi slipped 2 percent Friday in its biggest daily loss in over a month, as stock markets in the United States took another major blow due to resurfacing coronavirus woes. Kospi closed at 2,132.30 on Friday. Losers outnumbered gainers 720 to 160. As numbers of infections rose in some of the states that have reopened, including Texas and Arizona, both stocks and crude tumbled in the US on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 6.9 percent, S

June 12, 2020

Seoul stocks sink 2% on renewed concerns over virus, won falls

South Korean stocks closed sharply lower Friday as investor sentiment was hurt by renewed concerns over the new coronavirus outbreak, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 44.48 points, or 2.04 percent, to finish at 2,132.30, the lowest in eight sessions. Trading volume was moderate at 681.3 million shares worth 14.7 trillion won ($12.2 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 720 to 160

June 12, 2020

Seoul stocks open sharply lower as US market plunges over virus fears

South Korean stocks nosedived over 4 percent at the opening bell Friday, taking a cue from overnight plunges in US markets over renewed fears about the new coronavirus pandemic, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 80.33 points, or 3.69 percent, to 2,096.45 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Seoul shares closed lower to snap a nine-day winning streak Thursday, as investor sentiment was hurt by a bleak economic outlook by the US Federal Reserve. Overnig

June 12, 2020

[Exclusive] WeWork Korea offers voluntary retirement to employees

Shared working space operator WeWork’s Korean subsidiary has offered its employees a voluntary retirement last week as part of its restructuring plan, sources with knowledge about the matter told The Korea Herald on Thursday. “The voluntary retirement scheme was offered to the entire staff last week,” said a source on condition of anonymity. The scheme is in line with WeWork headquarters’ bid “to shut down the Korean operations,” another source told The Kor

June 11, 2020

FSC vows to innovate personal identification in financial services

The Financial Services Commission said Thursday it will innovate the current personal identification system in a way that consumers can enjoy diverse authentication services other than face-to-face method when using financial services. “Most of the current ID verification measures in the financial sector are based on face-to-face system, which given rise to the need to diversify verification services,” Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo told the reporters during a

June 11, 2020