South Korea’s stock markets tumbled and sovereign bond yields rose sharply Monday in sync with other bearish financial markets in the United States and Asia, amid the US Federal Reserve’s signal for a March rate hike, the hawkish remarks of outgoing Fed chair Janet Yellen and the strengthening dollar. Analysts here said the impact on the market from the hawkish US Fed is inevitable, but at the same time played down possibilities of a lingering impact on the market. Korea’s top-

Market Feb. 5, 2018

This is the 50th in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- Ed.Posco ICT, an affiliate of steelmaking giant Posco, is one of a few stocks that step outside the box of dominantly strong sectors such as biopharma on the second-tier Kosdaq bourse, showing a stellar performance on its “smart” business portfolio.Growing global demand for building “smart” cities -- those built on infrastructure powered by information and communi

Market Feb. 4, 2018

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in the world in market cap, sank further in South Korea on Friday, amid government talks for tighter regulation on the unfettered market. It was trading below the world average in Korea at around 7.7 million won ($7,090) per coin at around 9:50 p.m., a decrease of nearly 25 percent in 24 hours, according to the a local cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb.Bitcoin plummeted a day after the police raided the operator of Bi

Market Feb. 2, 2018

South Korea’s state bonds took a breather Thursday despite a hawkish stance posed by the US Federal Open Market Committee during its decision to hold the key rate steady Wednesday.On Thursday, the three-year state bond yield slid 2.5 basis point to 2.25 percent, while the five-year sovereign bond yield sank 3.2 basis points to 2.54 percent compared to the Wednesday session’s close, according to an estimate by the Korea Financial Investment Association. The 20-year bond yield dipped 2

Market Feb. 1, 2018

South Korea’s monthly consumer inflation came to 1 percent in January on-year, the slowest gain in 17 months, as the prices of agricultural goods such as vegetables fell, data showed Thursday.Calling such weak inflation “economic stability at target range,” the government pledged Thursday to carry out pre-emptive measures to curb consumer price fluctuations ahead of next week’s 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games and the national Lunar New Year holiday later in the mont

Economy Feb. 1, 2018

South Korea‘s appellate court ordered Tuesday the seizure of 191 bitcoins, worth 2.4 billion won ($2.3 million), as of 11:15 a.m. earned by providing online pornography content, overturning a district court‘s rule in September 2017 that implied seizing cryptocurrency was unlawful.This is the first time a Korean court has recognized virtual currencies encrypted on distributed ledgers as a means of profit, and therefore subject to confiscation. This carries with it an acknowledgement t

Market Jan. 30, 2018

The Korea Exchange, operator of the stock markets Kospi and Kosdaq, announced immediately after markets closed Tuesday a list of firms included on the new composite benchmark index KRX 300, ahead of its launch on Feb. 5. On the list were 305 firms. Of them 237 -- making up of 91.1 percent of the index’s market cap as of Friday -- were from the top-tier Kospi, while the other 68 came from the second-tier Kosdaq. The 305 companies were selected among the top 700 firms in market cap from both

Market Jan. 30, 2018

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the fintech industry. This is the ninth installment. — Ed.Robo advisers were invented in the early 2000s in the United States to achieve convenience in making extra returns by harvesting tax losses and rebalancing portfolios for investors.But bringing such convenience to retail investors in South Korea through the automated process was more painstakingly long, according to Jenna Lee, founder and chief executive

Market Jan. 30, 2018

Both stock markets in South Korea, the Kospi and Kosdaq, rallied Monday to hit records, while the nation’s market operator vowed to improve Kospi operations and become more friendly to foreign investors this year. The top-tier Kospi closed at 2,598.19, up 0.91 percent from Friday, setting a new all-time high. The second-tier Kosdaq closed at 927,05, up 1.53 percent from the previous trading day, the highest in 16 years since March 2002. The Kospi topped 2,600 for the first time in history

Market Jan. 29, 2018

Mirae Asset Daewoo, South Korea’s largest brokerage by net worth, saw its overseas stock value reach 4.1 trillion won ($3.8 billion) as of Friday, according to the firm Monday. The foreign stock value has jumped 3.5-fold since January 2017, when the firm‘s foreign stock assets were valued at 1.2 trillion won. The foreign stock asset portfolio by the securities firm took 57.8 percent of profits on average. Seven out of 43 overseas stocks recommended by the firm saw the price jump

Market Jan. 29, 2018

Investors, cryptocurrency exchanges and banks in South Korea appeared to be confused Sunday over the government’s push to launch a real-name trade system of digital currencies as part of efforts to tighten its grip on the fast-growing and unfettered market.Starting Tuesday, cryptocurrency purchases using local currency will be allowed only for individual accounts registered under real names. Bank accounts of digital coin buyers using local currency and of cryptocurrency exchanges must be r

Market Jan. 28, 2018

With the Lunar New Year holiday in a few weeks, Korean distiller HiteJinro has unveiled 59 packages featuring luxury wines as holiday gifts. Among the packages is a limited edition one featuring Gerard Bertrand wines, awarded red wine maker of the year by French magazine La Revue du Vin de France in 2015 and European winery of the year at the Wine Star awards in 2011. It is exclusively available before and during the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls in the third week of February. Other wine s

Industry Jan. 28, 2018

Kwon Yong-won, chief executive of Korea’s online-only brokerage Kiwoom Securities, was elected the chairman of the Korea Financial Investment Association Thursday. Starting Feb. 4, the 56-year-old will serve his three-year term for the self-regulatory organization for financial investment industry in Korea. Kwon is the fourth chairman of the association founded in 2009. Kwon earned 145 votes out of 231 participants to beat contenders, former chief Woori Investment & Securities Hwa

Market Jan. 25, 2018

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission said Thursday it plans to circulate a combined 11.2 trillion won ($10.6 billion) this year for local retail borrowers that hold midrange credit scores while having trouble finding corresponding loans.The FSC pledged to pour a combined 8 trillion won into state-run loan products sold at banks, including those designed for refinancing. The remaining 3.2 trillion won will be spent to encourage private banking institutions to develop and sell midrang

Market Jan. 25, 2018

Standard Chartered Bank Korea released updates to its flagship mobile banking app “Self Bank” on Jan. 8, almost a year after the app was released.The app is designed to allow its retail customers to buy banking services without visiting a brick-and-mortar branch. Since the app was launched in February 2017, Standard Chartered Bank Korea has sold 53,000 products ranging from checking products, deposits, savings, credit cards, consumer loans to insurance through the app. The update ena

Market Jan. 25, 2018