South Korea‘s main bourse extended record-setting rallies for the second consecutive day Tuesday on robust institutional buying that offset foreign selling.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,311.74, up 0.33 percent compared to Monday, when it reached a previous all-time high at 2,304.03.The Kospi showed significant surge in the late morning trade. At around 11 a.m., the market index began to shoot up to around 2,320. The index hit intraday high of 2,326.57 in the a

Market May 23, 2017

Financial regulators in South Korea said Monday they were seeking the entry of a fourth credit appraiser into the market, to improve credit rating market confidence and reduce collusive ties between rating agencies and the firms they evaluate.The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service in a release Monday said the third-party committee will hold its first meeting next week, in order to evaluate the credit rating market. The committee, launched in December 2016 compris

Market May 22, 2017

Kakao Bank, the second online-only bank in the country set to start its services in June, has joined the Korea Federation of Banks.The KFB said Monday that Kakao Bank had become the 22nd banking institution under the federation Friday. All commercial banks in operation in South Korea are members of the KFB, which gathers views from the banking sector and submits them to the parliament or financial regulators as a whole.In January, K bank entered the association as the country’s first onlin

Market May 22, 2017

Developing external uncertainties will heighten sensitivity of the main bourse of South Korea, according to market experts Friday. The first-tier market has been riding on momentum for nearly a month backed by first-quarter earnings surprises of local listed firms and President Moon Jae-in‘s highly-anticipated move to improve corporate structure and induce institutional investors to adopt a stewardship code.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Market Index, however, suffered a two-day slump

Market May 19, 2017

The Korea Exchange will launch a new web portal in June to provide information on short-selling in the local stock market and facilitate individual investors’ access, the market operator said Thursday.The beta version of the website will kick off Monday, through which the KRX is expected to gather feedback from investors until June 16, 10 days ahead of the official launch of the service available in Korean and English. The KRX said in a release Thursday that it aims to address misconceptio

Market May 19, 2017

Cultural change in the banking industry looms, with financial technology penetrating into the industry worldwide. But the new technology should be embellished with “human touch,” which would leverage deeper fintech penetration by improving customers’ satisfaction, bank officials said at a forum held at Standard Chartered Korea headquarters in Seoul on Wednesday.Michael Gorriz, chief information officer of the London-based international banking group, said in a keynote speech th

Market May 18, 2017

Some 300 contract employees of Citibank Korea will unconditionally become full-time within 2017, the bank said Tuesday. The benefiting employees are office clerks and bank tellers, currently under unlimited term contracts. Previously, each year the Korean unit of the New York-based bank converted the contract employees into permanent positions through a set of screening processes, which accounted for one-fifth of the newly employed full-timers.The bank, however, has not determined the exact date

Market May 17, 2017

Expectations of strong policy drives by President Moon Jae-in are leading to forecasts of a further Kospi rally and a stronger local currency, offsetting rising worries about geopolitical risks.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index extended rallies for two days, even after North Korea fired a ballistic missile Sunday. The Kospi closed at 2,295.33, up 0.2 percent Tuesday, despite the loss of earlier gains in morning trade that pushed the index above 2,300.The local currency also strengt

Market May 16, 2017

The Financial Supervisory Service issued last Thursday a disciplinary warning on stock brokers for short selling using insider information, the regulator said Monday.The FSS said a team of stock traders from SK Securities had failed to avoid conflicts of interest and used unpublished information obtained on duty, both considered breaches of law. It issued cautionary discipline and ordered the securities firm to take autonomous action on the traders.The traders allegedly short sold stocks after a

Market May 16, 2017

The Korea International Trade Association announced Monday that it plans to send a special economic mission to the United States in June, the first such visit to be made since US President Donald Trump took office in January. The 10-strong envoy group, which KITA Chairman Kim In-ho represents, will visit Washington DC and New York City during the five-day trip that kicks off on June 6. The group is expected to attend seminars on the Korea-US trade relationship, talks with offshore branches

Economy May 15, 2017

The ongoing increase of household debt brings focus on whether President Moon Jae-in will manage to fulfill his pledge of curbing swelling household debt, which has long been a drag on South Korea’s economy.Household borrowing from lenders in Asia’s fourth-largest economy rose 7.3 trillion won ($6.5 billion) in April, according to preliminary data from the Financial Services Commission on Monday. The monthly increase was sharper compared to the previous month. The volume of debt rose

Market May 15, 2017

Financial regulators have restarted their postponed discussion to consolidate a financial supervision system, a measure aimed at better spotting potential financial risks. The move is part of the Moon Jae-in administration’s chaebol reform drive, by examining financial transfers between a group’s companies, including loans and investments such as cross-shareholding. 　 The Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service have reportedly picked up talks on how to oversee

Market May 14, 2017

Despite the record-setting bull run on South Korea’s main bourse, 4 out of 10 stocks there fell, data from the Korea Exchange showed Sunday.The KRX said 302 stocks out of 750 listed on the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell as of Thursday compared to Dec. 29, accounting for 40.3 percent. The Kospi rose 13.32 percent over the cited period, from 2,026.46 to 2,296.37. As for the listed firms of both the first-tier and second-tier stock markets, 890 stocks out of 1,973, accountin

Market May 14, 2017

The Financial Supervisory Service announced Thursday that 36 conglomerates will be put under a capital structure assessment by their respective commercial lenders in a pre-emptive move to relieve the financial risks of the groups. FSS data showed the 36 enterprise groups were indebted by six banks -- Woori Bank, Korea Development Bank, KEB Hana Bank, Shinhan Bank, Kookmin Bank and NongHyup Bank. Among them, Woori Bank was the creditor of 13 groups, including Samsung Group, LG Group and CJ Group

Market May 11, 2017

South Korea’s stock indices set new all-time highs after bouncing back Thursday from Wednesday’s loss in the afternoon trade on robust institutional buying, raising expectations a return of momentum to the markets. The top-tier Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,296.37, up 26.25 points or 1.16 percent from Wednesday. It reached its intraday high of 2,297.67 at around 2:55 p.m.The Kospi ended its bullish ride Wednesday, when it closed at 2,270.12.This came days after the Ko

Market May 11, 2017