South Korean stocks advanced Thursday as hopes for a global economic rebound offset inflation worries. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 31.37 points, or 1 percent, to close at 3,178.74 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.2 billion shares worth some 16.4 trillion won ($14.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 733 to 157. Foreigners sold a net 99 billion won, extending their selling streak to a seventh sess

   Citibank Korea, the South Korean unit of Citigroup, has pledged to continue its role in supporting the country’s financial system, regardless of its parent company’s plan to withdraw retail banking operations in the nation, the lender said Thursday. Last month, the US banking giant announced that it would exit its consumer banking units in Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan and Thailand, as part of its

The cost of insuring South Korea's sovereign debt against default fell to the lowest level this week since the 2008-09 global financial crisis as the country's economy is recovering faster from the pandemic, the finance ministry said Thursday. The spread on credit default swaps (CDSs) for South Korea's 5-year dollar-denominated currency stabilization bonds came in at 19 basis points Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It marked the lowest since April 2007, when the cou

Online shopping in South Korea continued to soar in March as more people bought goods via e-commerce platforms amid a non-contact consumption trend caused by the pandemic, data showed Thursday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 15.9 trillion won ($14.1 billion) in March, up 26.4 percent from 12.6 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The March tally marks the second-highest monthly reading since December last year when the comparable figu

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea jumped 12 percent in April from a year earlier on robust sales of German cars, an industry association said Thursday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 25,578 units last month from 22,945 a year ago despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. The three bestselling models last month were Mercedes-Benz's E 250 sedan, E350 4MATIC sedan and GLE 450 4MATIC

South Korea's chief economic policymaker said Thursday the government will consider expanding tax credit programs for chipmaking-related research and development (R&D) and facility investment to nurture the non-memory chipmaking industry. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government is studying ways to increase tax benefits and policy support for the semiconductor industry to help local chipmakers sharpen their competitive edges. The country plans to set up a 280 billion-won ($248 mill

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday the government is guarding against signs of instability in the housing market as prices of some old apartments in Seoul have picked up on expectations for eased rules for redevelopment housing projects. Housing prices in Seoul recently climbed after new Mayor Oh Se-hoon took office last month with a pledge to ease regulations on rebuilding old apartments in the capital. "The growth of apartment prices in Seoul is picking up compared to before the

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Thursday, led by tech drops that stemmed from concerns about earlier-than-expected inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 1.83 points, or 0.06 percent, to 3,145.54 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI got off to a weak start, tracking the overnight US tech decline. Tech shares retreated in Seoul amid foreign selling, while bank and infrastructure shares advanced. Top cap Samsung Electronics lost 0.9

South Korea's foreign reserves rose to a fresh record high in April as the US dollar's weakness boosted the value of non-dollar assets, central bank data showed Thursday. The nation's foreign reserves came to $452.3 billion as of end-April, up $6.18 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.

Despite its cautious tone on digital currencies, the Korean government has indirectly invested 50 billion won ($44.4 million) into cryptocurrency-related funds in the past four years, according to data provided by an opposition lawmaker. According to Rep. Yun Chang-hyun of the People Power Party on Wednesday, five public organizations put a total of 50.21 billion won into funds that invested in cryptocurrency exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb from 2017 to March 2021, with the Ministry of SMEs

Financial authorities have asked banks to declare their cryptocurrency businesses to figure out the exact numbers of cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the country, as it tightens its grip over illegal activities in the industry, according to local media reports Wednesday. The financial regulators asked major banks to provide the current status of their businesses with cryptocurrency exchanges including corporate accounts and banks’ monitoring methods.  “Currently, crypt

South Korean retail investors’ deposits for stock investments reached a record 77.9 trillion ($69.28 billion) as of Monday, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association Wednesday. The outstanding deposits for stock investments marked some 77.9 trillion won, adding a whopping 19.49 trillion won from Friday. It also surpassed the previous record of 74.46 trillion won seen on Jan. 12. Deposits in cash management accounts here also surged by 22.97 trillion won to 68.39 trillion