Price index gap between major, minor bourses hits new high

The price index gap between South Korea's main and secondary bourses has hit a new high as the current bull run of the local stock market is driven largely by big caps, data showed Tuesday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 0.42 percent to finish at a fresh high of 2,388.66 on Monday, while the key index of the minor KOSDAQ market fell 0.09 percent to 668.36.The difference between the price indexes reached an all-time high of 1,720.30, surpassing the previous record set on J

June 27, 2017

Seoul stocks start lower on profit-taking

South Korean shares opened marginally lower Tuesday as investors opted to cash in part of recent gains.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index slipped 1.34 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,387.32 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics falling 0.62 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor declined 0.91 percent, and top steelmaker POSCO fell 0.37 percent.The local currency was trading at 1,135.00 won against the US dollar, up 2.1 wo

June 27, 2017

Kospi resumes record run in 2 weeks

The main bourse in South Korea resumed its record run in 11 trading days on Monday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Market Index closed at 2,388.66, up 0.42 percent, or 10.06 points from Friday closing. The index hit the record-high after it closed at the previous record at 2,381.69 on June 9. The Kospi inched close to the 2,400 mark by hitting its intraday high at 2,390.70 in the late afternoon trade.Offshore investors purchased shares valued at 34.1 billion won ($30 million) in total, while

June 26, 2017

Legal battle continues between Mirae Asset and SME head

The ongoing lawsuit raised in 2016 by a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf franchise in China against Mirae Asset Financial Group and Chairman Park Hyeon-joo has become more complicated, as the franchise’s CEO has filed another lawsuit against the group’s private equity CEO and an executive on perjury charges.The legal battle dates back to May 2014 when Kwon Joon, CEO of TNPI HK, sued Mirae Asset Chairman Park Hyeon-joo for “unlawfully” using the franchise’s confidential repo

June 26, 2017

Crude oil slump casts shadow on monetary tightening

The prolonged slump in crude oil prices may put a damper on the South Korean central bank’s anticipated monetary tightening, industry watchers said Monday. This came after oil prices spiraled to a record-low the previous week and the Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol picked the latest fluctuation on the oil price as one of the “external downside risks” in carrying out its monetary policy.“The prolonged crude slump has dampened the expectations for the inflation and normaliza

June 26, 2017

FSS’ new data to bring Moon’s attention to self-employed

The Financial Supervisory Service said Sunday it has been in talks with the Financial Services Commission to raise the attention of the debts of the self-employed.The FSS and the FSC are reportedly focusing on breaking down the debts owed by the self-employed and helping the Moon Jae-in administration tackle and contain the rise of household debt. The government is set to announce a comprehensive measure against skyrocketing household debt in August.In doing so, the FSS is currently drawing up a

June 25, 2017

[Advertorial] KRX commits to social responsibilities via foundation

Korea Exchange’s Happy Foundation is closing off the first half of this year with expanded social responsibility projects nationwide and overseas, ranging from offering financial education to information technology training.The foundation, set up in March, 2011, operates under the mission of sharing the growth from the capital market and the stock exchange market to ultimately create a positive sentiment towards the KRX. The projects are divided into four parts. One is to offer tailored ed

June 25, 2017

KB’s job fair completes 12th successful session

From 31-year-old Kim Ka-ram, who landed a marketing job after some 100 tries, to 49-year-old Kim Eun-young, who was hired by a manufacturing company after seeking to rejoin the workforce after raising her children, scores of job seekers have come out satisfied from a job fair hosted by KB Kookmin Bank.They were part of the nation’s largest single job fair, named KB Good Job, held from Thursday to Friday last week at Kintex in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, drawing some 250 companies and over 20

June 25, 2017

More households will face default risk with market rate hikes: BOK

South Korea’s central bank on Thursday warned that the number of highly-indebted households at default risk could go even higher with interest rates in the financial market likely to rise in coming years.In a bi-annual financial stability report submitted to the National Assembly, the Bank of Korea said households’ debt-to-disposable income rose to 153.3 percent as of the end of March, up 8.6 percentage points from a year earlier.The BOK projected that a market interest rise by up to

June 22, 2017

[News Focus] Behind NCsoft’s stocks plunge lies the power of tradable items

Item trading involving cash exchange is often seen as the culprit behind game-related crimes in South Korea, even causing cases of fraud or physical violence among game players. The feature is also behind the popularity of, or the gamers’ obsession with, South Korea‘s first-generation massively multiplayer online role-playing PC game “Lineage.”More recently, item trading has apparently become the deciding factor in the game developer’s stock prices.Ahead of the rele

June 22, 2017

Korean shares end higher on large-cap gains

South Korean stocks ended slightly higher Thursday as investors scooped up large-cap stocks. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 12.84 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,370.37.Individuals bought a net 75.68 billion won ($65 million) worth of stocks. Foreigners also turned net buyers of domestic stocks worth more than 17 billion won. But institutions dumped their holdings.  Kim Ye-eun, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities,

June 22, 2017

KDB’s ‘Next Round’ program targets start-ups

To help startups prepare for the future, Korea Development Bank has been running the “KDB Next Round” program that helps link companies with new investors.　First launched in August last year, KDB’s Next Round was introduced in an effort to minimize market friction and promote market expansion in order to further develop startup investments in the wake of the “fourth industrial revolution.”　The KDB’s investment platform does not involve a funding model or direc

June 22, 2017

Korean shares extend gains on tech, airline stocks

South Korean shares extended gains late Thursday morning as foreigners turned net buyers. The won traded higher against the dollar.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 7.19 points, or 0.30 percent, to 2,364.72 as of 11:20 a.m.Individuals bought a net 148.91 billion won ($131 million) worth of stocks. But institutions dumped holdings.   Large-cap stocks were mostly trading higher. Technology and airline stocks led gains, helped by rising overseas demand and declin

June 22, 2017

Value of stocks owned by 100 richest shareholders jumps 21.3%

The combined value of stocks owned by South Korea's 100 richest stockholders has jumped 21.3 percent, helped by a rally in the stock market, industry data showed Thursday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 16.3 percent to 2,357.53 on Wednesday, compared with a closing price of 2,026.16 as of Jan. 2 this year. According to the data by industry tracker Chaebul.com, the value of stocks owned by the 100 richest stockholders stood at 113.2 trillion won ($99.1 billion), up from 93

June 22, 2017

Mortgage applications soar on anti-speculation steps

South Korea's four major lenders saw mortgage applications jump nearly 11 percent shortly after the government unveiled measures to cool the property market this week, sources said Thursday.The finance ministry announced Monday it will start tightening credit early next month as part of efforts to counter signs of overheating real estate markets in Seoul and several other regions.According to the sources, mortgage applications filed Tuesday with the four largest lenders in the country -- KB Kook

June 22, 2017

Seoul shares open higher despite US losses

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday despite overnight losses on Wall Street, led by gains in top cap Samsung Electronics. The won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 1.56 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,359.09. Foreigners turned net buyers after shedding 183 billion won worth of stocks in the previous session. On Wednesday (local time), the Dow Jones industrial average moved down 0.27 percent to end at 21,410.03. Large-cap stocks mostly rose

June 22, 2017

Probe on NCsoft short selling launched

The financial regulators launched a probe Wednesday on the massive short sellings of the game developer NCsoft the previous day, amid market concerns over alleged insider trading. On Tuesday, a day before the highly-anticipated release of the mobile game “Lineage M,” stocks of its developer NCsoft plunged 11.4 percent in the closing compared to Monday. This came on the heels of a hearsay circulating online at around 2:30 p.m. that the mobile version of the mega-hit PC game “Lin

June 21, 2017

[Monitor] Nearly half of Korean workers pay no income tax

Nearly half of South Korean workers paid no income tax in 2015, a state-run think tank‘s report showed Tuesday.According to the report by the state-run Korea Institute of Public Finance, 46.5 percent of 17 million wage earners were exempted from paying income tax in the year, jumping from 32.2 percent in 2013. The increase was attributed to the government’s change of income tax deduction programs in 2014 to allow higher deduction rates to low income earners.The proportion in Korea wa

June 21, 2017