Seoul stocks open higher on US gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains that were largely generated by the Democrats' control of the US Senate. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 44.46 points, or 1.5 percent, to 3,012.67 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks gained ground amid expectations that the US political paradigm shift would help increase spending to stimulate the world's largest economy and benefit its export-driven trade partners. Market bellwe

Jan. 7, 2021

Kospi’s 38-year road to 3,000-point mark

Buoyed by the increasing participation of small investors and their growing clout in South Korea’s stock market, the nation’s main bourse reached a historic high on Wednesday, surpassing 3,000 points for the first time in the stock market’s 38-year history. The benchmark Kospi was launched by the nation’s sole bourse operator Korea Exchange on Jan. 4, 1983, three years after the base value of 100 was decided. It kicked off trading at 122.5 points with 328 listed firms on

Jan. 6, 2021

Retail investors, hopes of recovery open up era of Kospi 3000

An estimated 10 million retail investors, a weak dollar and hope for recovery pushed the benchmark Kospi above the 3,000-point threshold on Wednesday in what could be a new era for the local stock market. Analysts say many factors have driven the rally, including the weak dollar and anticipation for improved corporate earnings, but the biggest force may be legions of small investors, known locally as “ants.” The “ant warriors,” who purchased 60 trillion won ($52.22 bi

Jan. 6, 2021

Key shareholders unload additional stake in Doosan Fuel Cell

Nine shareholders of Doosan Fuel Cell Co. sold their combined 8.13 percent stake in the fuel cell maker via a block deal, the company said Wednesday. "The stake sale was a part of Doosan Group's self-rescue plan," a company official said by phone. The shareholders were reported to have raised around 274.5 billion won ($252.7 million) via the block deal. The shareholders include Park Jeong-won, chairman of cash-squeezed Doosan Group. After the sale, the combined stake in Doosan Fuel

Jan. 6, 2021

Kospi touches 3,000 points with retail investors’ buying binge

South Korean retail investors, who have been on a buying spree in recent months, brought benchmark indexes to fresh highs during intraday trading Wednesday. The Kospi touched 3,000 points for the first time in the market’s 38-year history in the early morning session, stretching to as high as 3,027.16 points. But the Kospi pulled back to close at 2,968.21 points, down 22.36 points, or 0.8 percent, shy of the previous session‘s close. The Kospi had maintained a record run for six c

Jan. 6, 2021

NPS to oppose Korean Air’s capital increase scheme

South Korea’s public pension fund the National Pension Service said Tuesday it would vote against Korean Air’s plan to issue new common shares, which is deemed pivotal to the planned takeover of debt-ridden rival Asiana Airlines. NPS, which was holding a 6.96 percent stake in Korean Air as of September, said in a statement the flag carrier’s move to issue new shares is detrimental to its shareholder value. The red flags range from Korean Air‘s hasty decision to acquire

Jan. 5, 2021

Stocks extend record rally for 6 trading days

South Korea’s stock market rallied Tuesday as investor appetite for equities in one of the world’s fastest-growing bourses continued to gain momentum.  The Korea Exchange’s main board Kospi jumped 1.6 percent to end at 2,990.57 points Tuesday. While off to a muted start in the morning, the index shot up approximately 30 minutes before the market close. The 916 constituents’ combined market cap approached 2,060 trillion won ($1.9 trillion). The Kospi, as a result,

Jan. 5, 2021

Brokerages raise target prices of Samsung Electronics on chip market recovery

As tech giant Samsung Electronics’ stock has set fresh record highs for three consecutive sessions and crossed the psychological threshold of 80,000 won ($73.66), South Korean brokerage firms have raised their target prices for the firm on signs of a recovery in demand in the global memory chip market, reports showed Tuesday. Some analysts predicted the world’s top memory chip maker’s stock price to rise as high as 111,000 won, up from their prior average target price of 86,0

Jan. 5, 2021

SK Biopharm shares slump as lock-up expires

SK Biopharmaceuticals shares plummeted as much as 10 percent Monday as almost 5 million shares were released after a lock-up period. Shares in the pharmaceutical company declined 8.58 percent to close at 154,500 won ($142) after plunging as much as 10 percet during trade as the last batch of shares that were locked in after the initial public offering were freed to the market. The benchmark Kospi rose 2.47 percent to 2,944.45 points on Monday.  Over 4.9 million additional shares held by

Jan. 4, 2021

Stock rally nears turning point as Kospi market cap tops W2,000tr

Stock analysts began to look for signs that the current bull market will end its run, as stocks in South Korea got started the year strongly on Monday, setting yet another all-time high on the first trading day of 2021. The Korea Exchange’s main board, the Kospi, closed at 2,944.45 points on Monday, up 2.5 percent from the previous close. The combined market capitalization of the Kospi’s 916 constituents, including electronics giant Samsung Electronics, exceeded 2,028.3 trillion wo

Jan. 4, 2021

K bank upgrades mobile app for tailored services

K bank, South Korea’s first internet-only bank, said Monday that it had revamped its mobile application to provide tailored services to its customers. Designed as a personal finance platform, the app operates an open banking system that allows users to transfer and withdraw money from accounts registered at separate banking institutions. Once a customer logs in, the main page of the K bank app displays the list of all accounts held by that customer. Customers can also personalize the

Jan. 4, 2021

Market leaders call for innovation, risk management amid lingering uncertainty

Leaders of state-run investment institutes and private brokerage firms here said they would accelerate digital transformation of the market and beef up their risk management capabilities in the face of lingering pandemic uncertainties. The Korea Exchange, the nation‘s sole securities exchange operator, said it would seek ways to expand the market entries of promising companies and secure market fairness by strengthening regulations on short selling. “The KRX will support innovative

Jan. 4, 2021

Banking groups face challenge as pandemic-led digitalization accelerates

      The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of the financial industry, pushing local banking groups to cater services to require less contact. The heated competition to gain a digital foothold in the industry pose as a key task for the firms this year, experts and head of the groups said Monday. “Local banks must bolster their risk management, while seeking for fresh revenue sources in the era of near-zero interest rates and improve the com

Jan. 4, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on 1st day of 2021

South Korean stocks kicked off higher Monday, the first session of the new year, led by strong chip and auto gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 4.48 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,877.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.37 percent, but No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 2.95 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor soared 6.77 percent, and its auto part making affiliate Hyundai Mobis spiked 12.13 percent. Leading chem

Jan. 4, 2021

Number of delisted firms quadruples in 2020

The number of companies delisted from the South Korean stock market rose fourfold in 2020 from the previous year due to poor financial health or other reasons, data showed Monday. A total of 16 firms, including solar-battery parts maker Woongjin Energy Co., were delisted from the country's main KOSPI and secondary KOSDAQ markets last year, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. Three companies were removed from the main bourse and the remainder from the tech-laden KOSDAQ market. Of th

Jan. 4, 2021

[Market Close-up] Korean market gains momentum from individual investors

Cho Young-hoon, a 40-year-old office worker living in Seoul, had no interest in capital investment, before the pandemic hit last year. Following in his parents’ footsteps, he strongly believed in real estate investment, and considered buying stocks to be too risky and not as profitable as owning an apartment in Seoul. Buying an apartment using his savings, jeonse deposit and a mortgage loan was his strategy for over a decade. But then, in December 2019, the government made an unprecedent

Jan. 3, 2021

Small shareholders' clout grows at Samsung

Holdings of small shareholders in the nation’s largest company, Samsung Electronics, grew to 6.5 percent in 2020, up from 3.6 percent at the end of 2019, data showed Sunday. The number of small stockholders is expected to have more than tripled from 568,313 to 2 million during the same period. Small shareholders refer to individual investors who have less than a 1 percent stake. The portion of Samsung shares held by retail traders in 2019 stood at 3.6 percent in end-2019 while domestic

Jan. 3, 2021

IBK to begin operation in Myanmar this month

The Industrial Bank of Korea said Sunday it will officially launch and operate a local subsidiary in Yangon, the largest city of Myanmar as early as this month, which marks its third overseas unit, following its operation in China and Indonesia.  Branded as IBK Bank Myanmar, its new overseas subsidiary was designed to handle various banking services, including corporate financing, personal financial management as well as foreign exchange business, officials said.  Through the newly

Jan. 3, 2021

Kospi hits another fresh high on final trading session of 2020

South Korea’s stock market ended its final trading session of the year on Wednesday, hitting another fresh high on market expectations for the chip industry. After a roller-coaster ride this year, the Kospi closed at 2,873.47, up 52.96 points or 1.88 percent from the previous session’s close. It began trading slightly lower at 2,820.36, but the index began moving in afternoon trading. Both foreign and institutional investors became buyers, scooping up a net 249 billion won ($229.

Dec. 30, 2020

[Best Brand] Lotte Card appeals to customers with diversified benefits

Credit card provider Lotte Card has recently rolled out a new reward system that covers all of its LOCA branded credit cards. The new reward system offers convenience for credit card subscribers, as they don’t need to spend time working out which credit card offers the most benefits for each purchase. It automatically sets rewards for subscribers of one of eight LOCA credit cards. The LOCA brand consists of three LOCA plastic cards that offer general benefits, and another five, named &l

Dec. 30, 2020