South Korean benchmark indexes continued to be upbeat Wednesday, following the government’s additional economic measures to counter the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The nation’s main bourse Kospi rose to a high of 1,992.20 points in intraday trading, up 0.59 percent from a day earlier, while the secondary Kosdaq crossed the 700-point mark for the first time in a year. The Kospi index closed at 1,989.64, up 0.46 percent while Kosdaq ended at 708.76, up 1.78 percent. The gains wer

Market May 20, 2020

The South Korean stock market was upbeat Tuesday on hopes of the successful development of a coronavirus vaccine in the US. The local currency rose against the US dollar. Local shares opened sharply higher in early morning trading with the nation’s main bourse Kospi soaring 2.26 percent to 1980.84 points. Continuing the momentum throughout the day, the index closed at 1,980.61, up 2.25 percent. The local rally came on the heels of news reports about the positive results of US pharmac

Market May 19, 2020

Since its first outbreak was reported in South Korea in January, COVID-19 has been wreaking havoc on the nation’s economy, forcing factories to suspend operations and claiming jobs in a wide range of sectors. The investment segment has also been affected as face-to-face meetings have been delayed or called off over growing concerns of infections. In times of crisis such as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, investors need to maintain long-term perspectives, according to Chae Jung-hoon, m

Market May 18, 2020

The head of local biotechnology firm SillaJen was detained Tuesday for alleged involvement in insider trading, raising market fears over SillaJen’s fate as a Kosdaq-listed company. The Seoul Southern District Court issued an arrest warrant for SillaJen CEO Moon Eun-sang, citing a flight risk and the possibility that he could destroy evidence. Last week prosecutors requested a warrant for Moon’s arrest on suspicion of violating the local capital market act and dereliction of duty

Market May 12, 2020

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog is set to decide this month what sanctions to impose against conglomerates whose affiliates carried out illegal business transactions with each other, according to news reports Monday. Under the fair trade law, internal trading among affiliates of large companies controlled by owner families is banned as chaebol scions have benefited from such practices at the expense of fair competition. The list of companies subject to penalties by the Fair Trade Co

Market May 11, 2020

South Korea’s investment firm Mirae Asset Global Investments said Monday that it would countersue China’s Anbang Insurance Group in a widening dispute over an acquisition deal of luxury hotels in the US. The legal action came after the Chinese insurer last month filed a suit with the Delaware Court of Chancery against the Seoul-based investment management firm for failing to complete payment of $5.8 billion for the takeover of 15 luxury hotels in the US. The first trial is set to

Market May 11, 2020

The Korea Consumer Agency said Friday that the number of e-commerce-related claims filed by consumers aged 60 or older has grown rapidly in recent years. From 2017 to 2018, the number of the entire claims filed by those in the age group, via the agency’s consumer consulting center rose by 3.5 percent annually. Of the claims, 51.2 percent were linked to products or services bought on online commerce platforms, while 24.5 percent and 4.5 percent were respectively related to purchases via

Market May 9, 2020

The state-run National Pension Service said Friday that it will form a committee next week to take charge of recommending a new chief. The post of NPS chairperson has been vacant since Jan. 7, when Kim Sung-ju stepped down to run in the April 15 general elections. The world’s third-largest pension operator, with some $600 billion in assets, is currently headed by acting Chairman Park Jung-bae. It is expected that the committee will pick three to five candidates, and the minister of he

Market May 8, 2020

Market Kurly, a fast-growing grocery delivery startup, announced on Friday that it has attracted 200 billion won ($164.3 million) in Series E funding. Led by investment firm DST Global, a group of global investors, including Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Fuse Venture Partners, SK Networks and Translink Capital and Aspex Management participated in the new round of funding. The Series E brings the South Korean startup’s total funding to 420 billion won. The new funding round

Market May 8, 2020

A set of new real estate policy measures aimed at turning public land in Seoul into massive housing complexes is designed to resolve the supply shortage in the capital city, but experts say it may not be enough to cool down the heated property market. According to the new policy package announced Wednesday, the government will supply 70,000 new housing units in Seoul, including 8,000 residential units in Yongsan and 250,000 in the surrounding areas. It is the left-leaning Moon Jae-in governm

Market May 7, 2020

South Korea’s top internet-only bank Kakao Bank said Wednesday that its operating profit nearly tripled in the first three months this year over soaring demand for mobile loan services and stock trading accounts. The internet-only bank’s operating profit came in at 18.4 billion won ($15 million) in the first quarter, up from 6.4 billion a year before. Founded in January, 2016, the company posted losses in the first couple of years, but made a turnaround in 2019 with a net profit o

Market May 6, 2020

The average jeonse-to-sales price ratio for apartments in Seoul and surrounding areas continued a downward trend last month, according to real estate data tracker KB Kookmin Bank Liiv On on Tuesday. ”Jeonse” is a real estate term unique to South Korea that refers to a two-year property lease. The average apartment lease was equivalent to 54.7 percent of the average sales price in Seoul, while the figures for Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, respectively, came in at 73.1 percent and 6

Market May 5, 2020

Big Hit Entertainment, one of the largest music labels in South Korea and home to K-pop darlings BTS, has been preparing to go public on the nation’s main Kospi bourse this year on the back of the boy band’s worldwide popularity. The K-pop band’s latest album, “Map of the Soul: 7,” sold 422,000 album equivalent units in the first week since its release in February, topping the Billboard 200 chart for the fourth time. The K-pop kings recently performed an online c

Market May 5, 2020

South Korea’s securities exchange operator, the Korea Exchange, said Wednesday that it had removed a market cap limit on the nation’s main bourse, Kospi, lifting a regulatory rule meant to prevent excessive reliance on a single stock. The 30 percent market cap rule requires securities funds, including exchange-traded funds, to reduce their holdings in stocks that account for more than 30 percent of the market value of the Kospi 200 and KRX 300 indexes. The regulation was introduced

Market April 30, 2020

Tmon, a leading South Korean e-commerce company, is gearing up to go public in earnest, as it has recently chosen local investment firm Mirae Asset Daewoo as its leading underwriter. The move came after the IPO plan faced a number of hurdles in finding underwriters earlier this year due mainly to negative outlooks for the highly saturated domestic e-commerce market. “Mirae Asset Daewoo has been picked as the sole underwriter, outgunning NH Investment & Securities and Nomura Securit

Market April 27, 2020