Offshore stock holdings exceed W600tr

Stock holdings by offshore investors topped 600 trillion won ($526 billion) in South Korea for the first time as of July, data showed Wednesday.The foreign net buying trend, which had continued for eight consecutive months until July, lifted foreign investors’ equity holdings to 605.7 trillion won, accounting for 33.4 percent of all shares issued on the two stock markets, according to data from the Financial Supervisory Service. This came in spite of the shrinking net purchases of for

Aug. 16, 2017

Financial chiefs vow to stabilize market amid NK risks

South Korea’s finance minister and fiscal policy chief on Wednesday vowed to take stern measures to stabilize the financial markets if necessary, as response to the tensions caused by North Korea’s nuclear provocations.Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol attended a luncheon, seeking cooperation amid the challenging economic situations.“(The government), together with the BOK, will keep a close watc

Aug. 16, 2017

Seoul stocks up for 2nd day on retail buying

South Korean stocks closed higher Wednesday, led by retail investors buying into the market, as tension between the United States and North Korea shows signs of easing. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 14.04 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 2,348.26. Trade volume was moderate at 265 million shares worth 6.08 trillion won ($5.32 billion). The local stock market opened higher on positive economic data from the US and an easing of ten

Aug. 16, 2017

Korean shares up in late morning trading

South Korean shares traded higher late Wednesday morning on positive economic data from the United States.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 13.19 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2,347.41 as of 11:20 a.m.Large caps traded mixed, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 2.8 percent and global chipmaker SK hynix up 2.61 percent.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker here, rose 0.35 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors traded 1.12 percent lower.POSCO, the No. 1 steelmaker,

Aug. 16, 2017

Seoul stocks start higher as N. Korea risks wane

South Korean shares opened higher Wednesday as a bitter verbal war between the United States and North Korea seems to have eased. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 19.03 points, or 0.82 percent, to 2,353.25 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 2.8 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.35 percent, and top steelmaker POSCO declined 1.23 percent.The local currency was trading at 1,134.55 won against th

Aug. 16, 2017

Foreign investors raise Korean stock holdings for 8th month

Offshore investors remained net buyers of South Korean stocks for the eighth consecutive month in July, with their stock holdings exceeding 600 trillion won ($526.4 billion) for the first time, official data showed Wednesday. Foreign investors boosted their holdings of local stocks by a net 579 billion won in July to 605.7 trillion won, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. For the first seven months of this year, offshore investors bought a net 11.4 trillion won worth of s

Aug. 16, 2017

Mortgage loans stay above July level despite tightening

Households in South Korea have still appeared to flock to mortgage loans so far this month, despite the government’s strong measures on Aug. 2 to tighten mortgage borrowing, data showed Tuesday.The average volume of household mortgage borrowings per day reached 407.1 billion won ($356.6 million) from 3,167.6 cases during Aug. 7-11, according to data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service. That was larger than the daily average in July, which came to 288.5 billion won from 2,509 borr

Aug. 15, 2017

Korean stocks to undergo corrections for a few months: market experts

South Korean stocks are expected to experience some corrections over the next couple of months due to the geopolitical risks coming from North Korea and the recent bull market, local observers said Tuesday.The prediction follows the war of words between Washington and Pyongyang over the latest UN sanctions and threats by the North to fire off missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam. Observers also said that some sort of adjustment is inevitable following eight straight months of stock

Aug. 15, 2017

Stocks bounce amid US-NK saber-rattling

South Korea’s stock market indexes swung back to positive territory Monday, recovering from a bearish trend last week fueled by the United States’ verbal saber-rattling at North Korea in response to its plans to attack US territory with ballistic missiles.　The top-tier Kospi closed at 2,334.22, up 0.63 percent from Friday’s close, while the tech-heavy Kosdaq rose 0.16 percent.Foreign investors maintained the selling trend for four consecutive days on the main bourse Monday, but

Aug. 14, 2017

Foreign investors switch to net sellers in July after steady buying throughout year: data

Foreigners who had been steadily investing in Asian stock markets began to pull out in July, with South Korean stocks ranking as the second most sold, data showed Monday.This year's figures provided by the Korea Exchange said foreigners net purchased between $2.8 billion and $11.9 billion per month in Asian shares from January to June. China and Japan were excluded from the count because they do not provide separate tallies on offshore investors.The buying spree was bucked in July when foreigner

Aug. 14, 2017

Korean shares up in late morning trading

South Korean shares traded higher late Monday morning as local institutional investors snatched up market heavyweights amid signs of abating tension between North Korea and the United States. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 11.72 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,331.43 as of 11:20 a.m. Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 0.85 percent, and global chipmaker SK hynix up 3.91 percent.AmorePacific, the largest cosmetics maker, declined 0.18 perce

Aug. 14, 2017

Seoul stocks start higher on bargain-hunting

South Korean shares opened higher Monday as some investors returned to the market amid escalating geopolitical tension between the United States and North Korea. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 12.54 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,332.25 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics gaining 1.43 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 0.7 percent and top steelmaker POSCO rose 1.42 percent.The local currency was tra

Aug. 14, 2017

NK risk clips Kospi rally, forecasts mixed

Rising geopolitical instability over North Korea’s provocations hit South Korea’s stock market last week, but experts expressed mixed views on the prospects for the Kospi, which has been setting records in recent months. 　Some say the market responding to North Korea risks is not new. However, what makes the difference now is that the bigger presence of foreign investors could make the market more vulnerable, as they view the North Korea factor more seriously.　The Kospi has fallen 4.

Aug. 13, 2017

Top 10 groups suffer plunge in market caps on N. Korea risk

The market value of firms affiliated with South Korea's top 10 conglomerates has tumbled more than 5 percent over the past 10 days due to the escalating standoff between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, data showed Sunday.The combined market capitalization of listed companies belonging to the 10 leading groups came to 884.6 trillion won ($772 billion) as of Friday, down 5.15 percent from Aug. 1, according to Chaebul.com and financial sources.It acc

Aug. 13, 2017

Seoul shares expected to move in tight range next week

South Korean shares are expected to move in a tight range next week as escalating war rhetoric between North Korea and the United States could continue to weigh in the main index, analysts said Saturday.Cape Investment & Securities said it expected the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index to trade at the 2,300-2,360 range next week. The broader index closed at 2,319.71 points on Friday, down 3.1 percent from a week ago. Heightened tensions between North Korea and the US are negative f

Aug. 12, 2017

Banks’ loan balance up despite mortgage control plan

Despite recently tightened restrictions on mortgage loans as part of the Moon administration’s anti-speculation measures, the total loan balance for major banks continued to rise, albeit slightly, with borrowers turning to credit loans instead.During the week following the real estate policy announcement on Aug. 2, the daily average of mortgage loans filed at the top four banks -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, KEB Hana, and Woori -- stood at 277.4 billion won ($242 million). The amount was close to

Aug. 11, 2017

Mirae Asset Daewoo to open Indian brokerage entity

Mirae Asset Daewoo, a leading asset manager here, will establish a brokerage business in India as early as within the year.The company appointed Ryu Han-suk, a manager from its Indonesian operation, as the head of the incoming entity in India, according to officials.“The goal is to establish the Indian branch this year and to kick off business early next year,” said an official of the company. Though details such as total investment and the size of the staff have not been reveal

Aug. 11, 2017

[Newsmaker] Korea on alert against market volatility over NK

South Korea’s government and central bank expressed concerns over increasing market volatility sparked by the unfolding conflict between the United States and North Korea, while stock market analysts attributed the latest decline to foreign investors’ profit-seeking. On Friday, the first-tier Kospi market closed at 2,319.71, after a 1.69 percent dip from Thursday, while the tech-heavy Kosdaq dived 1.83 percent. On the top market, foreign investors net sold 648.8 billion won ($566.1 m

Aug. 11, 2017

NK tension dampens stocks, currency

South Korea’s stock markets and currency remained weak for the second consecutive day Thursday, amid escalating political tension on the Korean Peninsula.The first-tier market’s composite index Kospi closed at 2,359.47, down 0.38 percent from Wednesday, while the tech-heavy Kosdaq dropped 0.44 percent. The Kospi extended its three-day losing streak, while the Kosdaq tumbled for two consecutive days.Foreign investors adhered to selling for two straight days. Offshore buyers sold stock

Aug. 10, 2017

S. Korean shares end lower on foreign selling amid tensions over N. Korea

South Korean stocks ended slightly lower Thursday as foreign investors offloaded local stocks on profit-taking amid escalating tensions over North Korea's provocations. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 8.92 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,359.47.Foreigners and retail investors offloaded shares worth more than 286 billion won ($250 million) and 168 billion won, respectively, while institutions scooped up more than 429 billion won, keepin

Aug. 10, 2017