KOSDAQ stock market loses steam while KOSPI rallies

South Korea's secondary stock market has continued to lose steam, while the main stock market has rallied due to big gains by heavyweight technology stocks, according to the nation's bourse operator Wednesday.For years, the junior KOSDAQ market has been struggling with a string of accounting scandals and the defection of large-cap stocks to the benchmark KOSPI stock market.According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSDAQ index has risen 8.83 percent so far this year, compared with a 22.9 percent jump

Oct. 25, 2017

Stocks open higher on sound Q3 earnings hope

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday as investors expect strong earnings from major companies.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 1.70 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,492.19 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Foreigners and retail investors bought a combined 55 billion won ($49 million) worth of stocks, offsetting 53 billion won sold by institutions. Companies such as Samsung Electronics Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. are scheduled to release their third-quarter earnings resu

Oct. 25, 2017

Preferred bidder for Dongbu Daewoo Electronics to be tapped soon

The preferred bidder for cash-strapped Dongbu Daewoo Electronics is set to be selected in the near future, industry sources said Wednesday, with candidates including both local and overseas firms.According to the sources, NH Investment & Securities Co., which oversees the deal, is currently conducting due diligence with candidates. After the procedure, the firm's financial investors will pick the preferred bidder based on candidates' financial and business capabilities.Sources said the candi

Oct. 25, 2017

Corporate owner families increasing stock-collateralized loans

Corporate owner families have put up some 12.6 trillion won ($11.15 billion) worth of stocks as loan collateral, an analysis showed Wednesday, a practice that increased faster among their children's generation, who likely used the money to pay inheritance-related taxes.CEO Score, which tracks management details of major conglomerates, analyzed loans and collateral of 704 family members of the top 100 business groups and their affiliates. According to the data, 164 of them from 47 groups had prov

Oct. 25, 2017

Seoul stocks hit fresh all-time high on earnings hope

South Korean stocks finished at a fresh record high Tuesday as institutions and individuals scooped up market heavyweights on earnings expectations, analysts said. The won rose against the dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index edged up 0.44 point, or 0.02 percent, to close at 2,490.49. The gain was bolstered by robust third-quarter earnings expectations, with a slew of major firms set to release their business performances this week for the July-September period.Trade volume was

Oct. 24, 2017

KSFC head named sole candidate for KRX chief

Jung Ji-won, chief executive officer of Korea Securities Finance Corp., was named Tuesday as the single candidate for the new chairman of the Korea Exchange, the operator of the Kospi and Kosdaq.  The Busan-based KRX announced Jung had become the sole candidate after interviewing Jung and his contender Choi Bang-gil, former chief executive at Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management.The announcement came about two months after former Chairman Jeong Chan-woo offered to step down from the post on

Oct. 24, 2017

US dollar-Korean won exchange rate least volatile in 3 years in Q3

The US dollar-Korean won exchange rates were the least volatile in three years during the third-quarter of this year, despite rising tension surrounding North Korea, the central bank said Tuesday. The average gap between the daily high and low of the dollar-won exchange rates came to 4.8 won in the third quarter, down from a 5.8 won fluctuation a quarter earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.  It is the smallest average daily fluctuation since the third-quarter of 2014, according to the B

Oct. 24, 2017

Seoul stocks trim earlier gains late Tuesday morning

South Korean stocks pared back earlier gains Tuesday morning to trade slightly lower as institutions and foreigners offloaded stocks on profit taking. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 1.86 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,491.91 as of 11:15 a.m.Institutions and foreigners sold a combined 57 billion won ($50 million) worth of stocks, exceeding the 52 billion won stocks purchased by individuals.  Tech stocks led the losses, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics falling 0

Oct. 24, 2017

New firms join W10tr market cap club

Twenty-four companies have newly joined the ranks of those with 10 trillion-won ($8.84 billion) market capitalization compared with 10 years ago, raising the number of such firms to a record high of 35, according to the Korea Exchange on Tuesday.Of the group, 34 were on the main bourse, including Samsung Electronics with a market cap of 352.32 trillion won as of Monday. SK hynix had 61.66 trillion won, and Kakao had 10.24 trillion won. Celltrion, with 21.86 trillion won, was the only firm on the

Oct. 24, 2017

Stocks open higher on sound earnings hope

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, as investors expect strong earnings from major companies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 2.97 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,493.02 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Retail investors bought stocks worth more than 35 billion won ($31 million), offsetting 34 billion won sold by foreigners and institutions.Large-cap stocks were mixed across the board, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. leading the gains. The tech giant

Oct. 24, 2017

Seoul stocks turn lower on profit taking late Monday morning

South Korean stocks turned lower Monday morning after a brief rise, as institutions dumped stocks on profit taking. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 2.00 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,487.54 as of 11:15 a.m.Institutions offloaded 258 billion won ($228 million) worth of stocks, exceeding a combined 225 billion won by foreigners and individuals.  Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 0.74 percent and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. advanced 2.59 percent.Among declin

Oct. 23, 2017

Stocks open higher on foreign buying

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday as foreigners scooped up technology stocks. The won fell against the dollar.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 2.25 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,491.79 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. gained 0.71 percent, and SK hynix, a major chipmaker, advanced 2.0 percent. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. moved up 0.33 percent, and leading chemical firm LG Chem Ltd. rose 0.52 percent.In contrast,

Oct. 23, 2017

Default rates rising for P2P lendings

Default rates for peer-to-peer loans have risen at an alarming rate, nearly tripling in September from a month earlier, market sources said Monday.According to Korea P2P Finance Association, aggregated lending by its 60 member companies totaled 1.47 trillion won ($1.29 billion) as of end-September. The current loans come to 730 billion won.The average default rate, which counts loans unrepaid for over 30 days but under 90 days, came to 2.99 percent last month, almost triple from 1.04 percent a m

Oct. 23, 2017

Stock rally adds more to stock-rich list: data

The number of stock-rich persons with their stock holdings valued at 1 trillion won ($883 million) or more rose to the highest ever as the local stock market continued to renew its all-time highs on the back of sound corporate earnings and ample liquidity, industry data showed Sunday.According to industry tracker Chaebul.com, the number of persons with 1 trillion won or more worth of stocks stood at 27, up five from 22 at the end of last year.The country's benchmark index, the KOSPI, closed at a

Oct. 22, 2017

Bourse operator to decide on Daewoo Shipuilding stock trading this week

South Korea's bourse operator is set to decide this week on whether to allow the resumption of trading of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. on the local stock market, industry sources said Sunday.The trading of Daewoo Shipbuilding stocks have been halted since July last year, due to its impaired capital base, and the shipyard was given a one-year rehabilitation period to improve its financial status for the resumption of stock trading.According to the sources, the Korea Exchange w

Oct. 22, 2017

Korea ranks 11th worldwide in market cap

The combined market capitalization of South Korean firms listed on the main and secondary bourse ranks 11th among global peers, claiming 1.77 percent of the total, on the back of a rise in market heavyweights, such as Samsung Electronics, data showed Sunday.The combined market cap of the world's stock markets reached a record high of $88.59 trillion as of Thursday, increasing 35 percent from a year ago, as optimism over a global economic recovery fueled a rally in advanced and emerging stock mar

Oct. 22, 2017

Foreign investment fund net assets top W120.2tr: data

The net value of foreign investment fund assets held by South Koreans exceeded 120.2 trillion won ($105.9 billion), a local capital market association said Sunday.According to data by the Korea Financial Investment Association, foreign investment funds assets, including private equity funds, was up a sharp 10 trillion won as of Tuesday, compared with three months earlier. The numbers also represent a surge from just 51.3 trillion won tallied in late 2012. The findings showed numbers began rising

Oct. 22, 2017

Shares of Samsung Electronics held by chairman's family rise this year

Shares of Samsung Electronics Co. held by the chairman's family rose 1.55 percentage points this year, mainly due to the cancellation of treasury shares, official data showed Sunday.Data by the Financial Supervisory Service and the tech giant showed that shares held by chairman Lee Kun-hee, his heir apparent Lee Jae-yong and "specially related people" accounted for 20 percent of all ordinary shares issued by the world's leading smartphone and computer chip producer.The chairman, who re

Oct. 22, 2017

Land-for-permanent residency policy for foreigners not working: lawmakers

South Korea has been offering permanent residencies to foreigners who buy and keep real estate in designated areas as part of its push to foster nonmetropolitan zones, but it has so far benefited only a handful of popular destinations, lawmakers said during a parliamentary audit this week.Since 2010, under the former Lee Myung-bak administration, the government has allowed investors to buy land and build facilities for tourist accommodations in 10 authorized zones including Jeju Island.Over 99 p

Oct. 20, 2017

[News Focus] Why are investors shunning small-caps on Kospi?

Record market rallies in South Korea, mainly spurred by large-cap stocks such as Samsung Electronics on their upbeat earnings forecast, have highlighted that investors are less drawn to small cap stocks -- relatively more exposed to potential risks -- even in their attempt to unwind from overweight tech sectors here.  The main bourse index Kospi rose 3.4 percent for the past seven trading days until Wednesday, while scaling the record earlier this week, according to data by the Korea Exchan

Oct. 19, 2017