Seoul stocks retreat on Fed's early tapering concerns

South Korean stocks retreated Monday as the US Federal Reserve's hawkish tone last week increased market worries about an early tapering of its accommodative monetary policies. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slumped 27.14 points, or 0.83 percent, to close at 3,240.79 points after dipping to as low as 3,225.56 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.5 billion shares worth some 17.1 trillion won ($15.1 billion), with lose

June 21, 2021

Upbit and PicaProject clash over delisting

Upbit, South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, said on Monday it would take legal action against PicaProject, which accused the exchange of misusing its coins to prompt a delisting. PicaProject’s digital coin Pica was among 24 digital tokens that Upbit removed from its platform on Friday. In response, PicaProject accused the exchange of misusing the funds to the tune of 5 million Pica coins intended for marketing events when it went public in January this year. According

June 21, 2021

Korean asset managers bank on virus recovery

South Korea’s asset managers are counting on the global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic as vaccination gathers momentum. This, in turn, is adding fuel to Korean managers’ efforts to revisit industrial sectors that were hardest-hit by the virus impact. Shinhan Asset Management, an asset management arm of Korea’s banking group Shinhan, said Monday it plans to launch a second batch of its hybrid fund next week, in order to target companies reeling from the pandemic amid

June 21, 2021

Brokerage houses raise target prices for Kakao on business expansion

Backed by aggressive moves to go beyond its platform business, South Korean brokerage firms have painted a rosy outlook for Kakao and raised their target prices on the company, reports showed Monday. Some analysts predicted the popular mobile messenger KakaoTalk operator’s stock price to rise as high as 200,000 won ($175.80), up from their prior target prices. The adjustment came after the company jumped to the third most valuable stock on the nation’s main board Kospi. “Kaka

June 21, 2021

Eximbank inks $5b loan agreement with UAE’s oil company

To provide financial support for South Korean companies with overseas contracts in the Middle East, the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea has signed a loan agreement worth $5 billion, or nearly 6 trillion won, with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, the state-owned oil company of the United Arab Emirates, officials said Monday.  The framework agreement was made at a meeting between Eximbank CEO Bang Moon-kyu and Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of the UAE's ADNOC, held Sunday at the oil company

June 21, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on Fed's hawkish pivot

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday despite strong export data as the US Federal Reserve's hawkish pivot last week increased market worries about an early tapering of its accommodative policies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 18.23 points, or 0.56 percent, to trade at 3,249.7 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a weak start in the wake of the Fed's ongoing discussions about expediting its rate hike timeline. Federal Reserve Chairman

June 21, 2021

Korea’s IPOs to break annual records

South Korea’s domestic capital market is gearing up for a record year with a parade of initial public offerings set to eclipse a decade-old annual record of 10.1 trillion won ($8.9 billion), thanks to game developer Krafton’s expected blockbuster debut. This comes as Korean companies’ initial public offerings this year have already put their combined fundraising to a near-2020 level, according to IPO prospectuses submitted to Korean financial authorities. Through Sunday, 40

June 20, 2021

Banking groups integrate ‘lifestyle’ into financial services

Tech giants such as Naver and Kakao have penetrated the financial sector by integrating “lifestyle” into their financial services, offering all-in-one services via a single platform or close connections to their users. Kakao Corp., operator of the nation’s No. 1 mobile messenger in terms of users, for example, allows KakaoTalk users easy access to its financial services offered by KakaoBank. KakaoTalk users can use KakaoBank services at just a press of a button on the messeng

June 20, 2021

Regulatory reform boon to Korean private equity landscape: report

An anticipated regulatory change in South Korea will bolster growth of the burgeoning private equity industry led by large and reputable fund managers, a report showed Sunday. The revision of the Capital Markets Act, soon to be in effect starting October, aims to separate institutional funds and noninstitutional funds. It is largely aimed at protecting noninstitutional end-investors of private funds, as a number of misselling scandals had dented the fund industry over the past couple of years.

June 20, 2021

Stock gift to BTS members balloons to W150b

Stocks gifted to members of boy band BTS have snowballed to a combined value of nearly 150 billion won ($132.5 million) over the course of about 10 months. The gift -- 478,695 common shares of BTS’ management agency Hybe that were evenly distributed to the seven members -- is now valued at the domestic stock market at 149.8 billion won, as Hybe shares notched an all-time high for five straight trading days until Friday. This means members RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, V, Jimin and Jungkook hav

June 20, 2021

Seoul stocks tipped to face selling pressure next week on inflation woes

South Korean stocks are likely to come under selling pressure next week, as investors could take to the sidelines amid weakening local currency and uncertainties from the Fed's earlier-than-expected timeline for policy tightening, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 3,267.93 points Friday, up 0.57 percent from a week ago. The KOSPI set a new all-time high Wednesday on strong individual buying, backed by speculation that the US Federal Rese

June 19, 2021

“Hasty delisting of digital coins negatively impacts investors”

Coming under increasing pressure from financial regulators, local cryptocurrency exchanges have hastily delisted dozens of digital coins, but the removals create negative impact on investors, experts said on Friday. Since Upbit announced its decision to discontinue the trading of five coins on June 11, two more exchange - Bithumb and Coinbit - joined the move with sudden delisting and investment warnings. “Inadequate digital tokens certainly have to be removed from the market but hasty d

June 18, 2021

Asiana Airlines, Air Busan, Asiana IDT face review on possible delisting

South Korea’s No. 2 carrier Asiana Airlines and its two affiliated companies face possibilities of being delisted from the nation’s main bourse Kospi, according to industry sources Friday. The country’s bourse operator Korea Exchange announced Thursday that it has decided to examine the air carrier’s listing eligibility in line with the former Kumho Asiana Group chief’s arrest over allegedly unfair interaffiliate deals. The KRX has made an additional decision to

June 18, 2021

Seoul stocks rebound on hopes of economic recovery

South Korean stocks rebounded Friday as hopes for an economic recovery offset concerns over an earlier-than-expected tapering move by the US Federal Reserve. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 2.97 points, or 0.09 percent, to close at 3,267.93 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.6 billion shares worth some 17.1 trillion won ($15.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 464 to 382. Foreigners sold a net 823 bil

June 18, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on US tech rebound

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday on overnight tech gains on Wall Street, with investors digesting the impact of the Fed's faster-than-expected timeline for policy tightening. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) increased 7.75 points, or 0.24 percent, to 3,272.71 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks opened with mild gains after the key stock index snapped its five-session winning streak the previous session. The rebound came amid the ongoing tussle between a

June 18, 2021

Cross-trading, transaction of own coins banned for cryptocurrency exchanges

The regulatory Financial Services Commission on Thursday said that it will add detailed measures to the legislation governing cryptocurrency exchanges in an effort to tame their attempts at price fixing. Cryptocurrency exchanges will be banned from handling digital tokens issued by themselves or affiliated people, according to a pre-announcement of the revisions made to the enforcement decree of for the Specified Financial Transaction Information. Executives and employees of an exchange are ba

June 17, 2021

Seoul stocks snap 5-day rise on Fed's hawkish comments, Kosdaq tops 1,000 points again

South Korean stocks ended a five-session winning streak Thursday as investor sentiment for risky assets weakened over the Federal Reserve's comments about an earlier-than-expected timeline for a rate hike. The Korean won steeply fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 13.72 points, or 0.42 percent, to close at 3,264.96 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.8 billion shares worth some 14.4 trillion won ($12.7 billion), with losers outnum

June 17, 2021

Waves of female leaders

Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai (fifth from left, second row) poses with female midlevel managers during a launch ceremony of a new in-house program titled Hana Waves held at its headquarters in central Seoul on Tuesday. Members invited to the first series of programs have been recommended by CEOs of Hana affiliates to develop their leadership roles as part of the group‘s gender diversity efforts at the C-suite level. (Hana Financial Group)

June 17, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on Fed's hawkish comment

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday as the Federal Reserve made comments about an earlier-than-expected timeline for a rate hike. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 19.61 points, or 0.6 percent, to trade at 3,259.07 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stock prices fell after the key stock index finished at an all-time high the previous session, taking a cue from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comment that the Fed began discussing measures to sca

June 17, 2021

Kospi hits new high in 5 months ahead of FOMC decision

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi hit a fresh high during intraday trading Wednesday, with foreign and institutional investors returning to the market ahead of a US Fed meeting that could signal a market moving stance. It extended a winning streak for a whopping fifth session in a row. The Kospi closed at 3,278.68, replacing an all-time high closing for a third consecutive session. The index once touched as high as 3,281.96 in the morning trade, breaking its previous record high of 3,266.23 s

June 16, 2021