BOK to deliver additional $4.4b to banks via US currency swap this week

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Tuesday that it will offer $4.41 billion to local banks this week in its second round of dollar funding using its bilateral currency swap arrangement with the US Fed that is designed to help prevent a foreign exchange liquidity crunch. The central bank held an online auction to provide up to $8.5 billion in seven-day debt and 84-day loans. Bids undershot the BOK target of $7 billion in 84-day loans and $1.5 billion in seven-day loans. "A total of $4.41 billi

April 7, 2020

Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean shares opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street amid signs that the spread of the coronavirus could be slowing. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 42.10 points, or 2.35 percent, to 1,833.98 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The main index tracked overnight gains on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 7.73 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed 7.33 percent. US stocks soared as the number of new

April 7, 2020

Eximbank Korea to create health care funds worth W400b

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea said Monday that it intends to create two funds worth a total of 400 billion won ($325.2 million) to help South Korean health care companies go global. The money will go to Korean companies devoted to immunotherapy, gene therapy, health care systems, diagnostic kits and medical devices. It will be used to support them in exporting more products, clinching more overseas investment and expanding to foreign markets. Of the total, Eximbank Korea has comm

April 6, 2020

NHIS commits W1.4tr to alternative investment

The National Health Insurance Service unveiled on Monday plans to commit up to 1.4 trillion won ($1.14 billion) to its first alternative investment in history as an institutional investor. It plans to select two lead partners to manage the assets for four years, officials said. This comes as the South Korean state agency, with some 20 trillion won worth of assets under management, moves to shift away from a conservative portfolio and turn to alternative assets, ranging from real estate to

April 6, 2020

Jeonse prices on rise as demand for house purchases falls

The average price for the jeonse -- a real estate term unique to South Korea that refers to a property lease -- in Seoul has surpassed 460 million won ($375,000) for the first time, continuing the recent upward trend, data showed Monday. According to the Korea Appraisal Board, a property assessment agency, the average jeonse prices in the capital have been rising since July to reach 460.7 million won as of March. Separate data from property services platform KB Kookmin Bank Liiv On also sho

April 6, 2020

Bargain-hunting Korean investors flock to overseas stock markets

Korean investors are flocking to overseas stock markets to scoop up undervalued shares, given the sluggish domestic market, according to latest data Monday. Securities information portal SEIBro, operated by Korea Securities Depository, noted local investors transacted some $13.76 billion worth of overseas stocks in March -- up 67.39 percent from the previous month -- marking the largest trading amount in history. Their transactions came to $7.24 billion, while the selling amount recorded $6.5

April 6, 2020

Seoul stocks spike almost 4% on hopes of virus treatment

South Korean stocks soared by almost 4 percent on Monday, extending their gains to a third straight session on hopes of potential treatment for the new coronavirus that has infected more than 1.2 million people around the world. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 66.44 points, or 3.85 percent, to 1,791.88. Institutional investors bought a net 1.03 trillion won ($838 million), while foreign investors sold a net 202 billion w

April 6, 2020

Financial holding groups’ net profit jumps 31% in 2019

South Korea’s 10 financial holding groups’ combined net profit increased 31 percent last year, data showed Monday, but the upward trend is unlikely to continue next year. According to the watchdog Financial Supervisory Service, the combined net profit of Shinhan, KB, NH Nonghyup, Hana, Woori, BNK, DGB, JB, Korea Investment and Meritz came to 15.2 trillion won ($12.3 billion) in 2019. The figure was up nearly 3.6 trillion won or 31 percent on-year. The corresponding figure for 201

April 6, 2020

No. of small biz owners in default rose 7.5% from Q2 to Q4 last year

The number of small business owners who were unable to repay credit loans prolonged an upward trend last year and remains likely to expand further this year, due to the novel coronavirus spread, data showed Sunday. The number of small business owners who are in default came in at 35,806 in the fourth quarter last year, up from 35,567 in the third quarter and 33,292 in the second quarter, according to data compiled by credit rating firm NICE Credit Information Service. Given that some 2.09 mi

April 6, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher amid virus woes

South Korean shares opened higher Monday amid hopes of a potential treatment for the new coronavirus that has infected more than 1.2 million people around the world. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 20.56 points, or 1.19 percent, to 1,746.00 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities Co., said the main index received a boost amid positive news about Gilead Sciences' remdesivir against COVID-19. Daniel O'Day, chairman and

April 6, 2020

S. Korea to post negative GDP growth due to coronavirus: reports

South Korea is likely to post negative economic growth this year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, data showed Sunday. The average estimate of the nation’s gross domestic product growth for this year recently came to negative 0.9 percent, drastically down from the previous suggestion of around 2 percent. The forecasts were tallied from 11 global financial services firms, including Standard Chartered, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Nomura Holdings and Credit Suisse. The plunge is attributed

April 5, 2020

Korea’s listed firms’ earnings to shrink 17% in Q1 amid coronavirus pandemic

South Korea’s listed companies are likely to post poor earnings results for the first quarter due to the escalating fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic, a financial market tracker said Sunday. The combined operating profits of 141 listed companies are expected to mark 16.79 trillion won ($13.6 billion) in the January-March period this year, down 20.22 trillion won, or 16.92 percent, from a year ago, according to data compiled by FN Guide. If the projection turns out to be roughl

April 5, 2020

Korean stocks close nearly flat, won sinks

South Korean stocks closed nearly flat Friday as a recovery in global oil prices boosted investor sentiment against the new coronavirus pandemic. The local currency dropped against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 0.58 point, or 0.03 percent, to close at 1,725.44. Trading volume was high at some 986 million shares worth a little over 1 trillion won ($811 million), with gainers outnumbering losers 506 to 328. The index got off to

April 3, 2020

Korea’s FX reserves sharply drop in March

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves last month posted the sharpest drop in over a decade due to the government’s intervention in the foreign exchange market and the strengthened US dollar value, the central bank said Friday. As of the end of March, the nation’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $400.21 billion, down $8.96 billion from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. It fell by the largest margin since November in 2008 when the global financial crisis wa

April 3, 2020

Hana Bank, Woowa Brothers to create rating model based on online food orders

Restaurants available on delivery app Baedal Minjok will have a broader access to loans from a commercial bank, if they show proof that they were winning more online food delivery orders. This will be part of commitments in a memorandum of understanding by Korea’s mobile food delivery unicorn Woowa Brothers and commercial lender Hana Bank, Woowa Brothers said Friday. Under the MOU, the door-to-door food delivery company and the bank pledged to create a credit rating model that uses the

April 3, 2020

S&P puts Hyundai on negative watchlist amid virus pandemic

S&P Global Ratings on Thursday placed Hyundai Motor Group on its watchlist of firms with a negative outlook, citing the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic on the global automobile industry. "The COVID-19 pandemic is causing production suspensions and weakening demand in the global auto industry, which was already facing slowing demand in 2019," S&P said in a report as it placed the South Korean auto giant on "CreditWatch with negative implications," hinting its r

April 2, 2020

Deal shows virus-hit airlines can sell debt but cost steep

A bond deal by South Korea’s biggest airline showed that while carriers pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic can still sell debt, they will need to pay a steep price. The fee Korean Air Lines paid underwriters to issue won notes jumped to a record 1.157percent, four times what it was charged in a similar deal in September. And an unusually numerous 15 sales managers took part in the offering this week of 600 billion won ($490 million) of debt backed by sales of future passenger tickets, a

April 2, 2020

Korea's proposed M&As shrink to half in Q1

The volume of proposed mergers and acquisitions in South Korea has shrunk to about half in the first quarter of 2020, reflecting the impact of the novel coronavirus, data showed Thursday. The first quarter saw 5.23 trillion won ($4.22 billion) worth of deals announced, falling 50.6 percent on-year, according to a league table by news outlet thebell. This comes as the coronavirus pandemic is causing delays in reaching agreements between parties due to market uncertainties. Major deals annou

April 2, 2020

BlackRock offloads W130b stake in NCSoft

US investment house BlackRock Fund Advisors has offloaded its 1.01 percent stake in South Korea’s game software developer NCSoft to cash out 129.57 billion won ($105.1 million), a filing showed Thursday. As a result, BlackRock Fund Advisors and its 13 specially related parties hold 6.05 percent voting rights in the company as of March 25 as a nonengagement shareholder. NCsoft share price rose 6.15 percent. The investor said its transactions from September to March were “meant to se

April 2, 2020

KRX to ditch 30% cap on index weighting

The Korea Exchange (KRX) said Thursday it has decided not to implement a new rule meant to prevent major indices from dominant influence of a single stock. The stock market operator previously considered applying the so-called “30 percent cap” rule on market bellwether Samsung Electronics by June, as its weight on Kospi 200 increased to 33.5 percent as of Jan. 20 from 29.8 percent of Dec. 2. “The purpose of applying the rule was to comply with regulations. Due to the revisio

April 2, 2020