Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street gains
MarketsJun 3, 2020
South Korean shares opened sharply higher Wednesday, taking a cue from overnight Wall Street gains amid hopes of economic reopening and eased Sino-American political turmoil. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 32.86 points, or 1.57 percent, to 2,120.05 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 267.63 points, or 1.05 percent, to close at 25,742.65 on Tuesday (New York time). Such an advance followed reports of a reduction of frict
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Shinhan BNP Paribas manages alternative portfolio for NHISMoneyJun 2, 2020Seoul-based Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management said Tuesday it has started to work as a fund manager for the National Health Insurance Service’s 1.4 trillion won ($1.14 billion) alternative investment for four years. Shinhan BNP Paribas is one of the two lead fund managers, along with fellow Seoul-based investment house KB Asset Management. The two partners, selected in late April, will manage 700 billion won of assets each and choose more external partners to join their funds of -
WeWork names real estate expert as Asia-Pacific directorMarketsJun 2, 2020Space-as-a-service platform WeWork named Samit Chopra as managing director for its Asia-Pacific operation, it announced Tuesday. Chopra is tasked with overseeing markets including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Based in Singapore, Chopra will be responsible for WeWork Pacific’s profit and loss management, go-to-market strategy, sales leadership, growth and innovation and talent development, according to WeWork. Chopra has
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S. Korea’s GDP shrinks by 1.3% amid falling per capita incomeEconomyJun 2, 2020South Korea’s real gross domestic product shrank 1.3 percent on-quarter in the first quarter of this year, nearly missing its previous forecast of 1.4 percent, data from the Bank of Korea showed Tuesday. Through the contraction was 0.1 percentage point lower than the earlier estimate, it marked the largest on-quarter drop since the fourth quarter of 2008, when the country was reeling from the global financial crisis and the corresponding figure stood at 3.3 percent. The country’s -
Korea faces first dip in annual inflation in 8 monthsEconomyJun 2, 2020Inflation rate falls below zero over COVID-19 crisis, low global oil prices -
Seoul stocks up for 3rd day on recovery hopesMarketsJun 2, 2020South Korean stocks rose by more than 1 percent Tuesday, extending a winning streak to a third consecutive session on hopes for economic reopening, despite uncertainties from the spreading protests against police violence in the United States. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 22.11 points, or 1.07 percent, to close at 2,087.19. Trading volume was heavy at about 985.1 million shares worth some 10.1 trillion won ($8.2 billion -
Hanwha Asset bets on e-commerce, data, health care stocks amid coronavirusMoneyJun 2, 2020Seoul-based Hanwha Asset Management said Tuesday it is betting on new growth opportunities of companies dedicated to e-commerce, data infrastructure and health care by creating a fund investing in such stocks at home and abroad. The strategy comes amid consumer concerns about face-to-face contact amid the worldwide coronavirus outbreak, which rather translates into higher demand for companies in such sectors, company officials said. The demand stems from changes in people’s lifestyle, -
Laundry service startup Laundrygo snaps up W17bMoneyJun 2, 2020South Korea’s same-day laundry service startup Laundrygo said Tuesday it had raised a 17 billion won ($13.9 million) series B round funding from multiple venture capital houses, amid growing demand for daily life services offered without physical contact in the pandemic era. New investors in the latest round include Korea Investment Partners, Aju IB Investment, KT Investment, Samsung Venture Investment, DS Asset Management. Existing investors Altos Ventures and Hana Ventures also joined -
Hana execs join legal battle against penalties for derivatives-linked fundsMarketsJun 2, 2020Tension mounted Tuesday as executives of Hana Financial Group joined the legal battle against financial authorities for imposing penalties for misselling derivatives-linked funds. Jang Kyung-hoon, president of Hana Card as well as Park Se-gul, general manager of Hana Bank’s wealth management unit, have reportedly filed separate suits at a local administrative court to nullify the Financial Supervisory Service’s punitive measures. In March, Hana Bank was slapped with 16.78 bi -
ESG bond market to benefit from KRX’s fee-waiverMarketsJun 2, 2020The stock market operator’s move to offer benefits to companies running socially conscious bonds is likely to add vitality to the environmental, social and governance-related bond market in South Korea, according to industry sources Tuesday. The Korea Exchange is slated to waive listing fees and yearly managing costs for the socially conscious bonds of local firms for three years from June 15. It will also open a website to provide investment details and disclosures of each bond on the s -
S. Korea's corporate loans rise at over decade high rate in Q1EconomyJun 2, 2020Loans extended to companies in South Korea jumped at the fastest rate in more than 10 years in the first quarter, central bank data showed Tuesday, apparently on a rise in demand from businesses hit by the fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic. The outstanding amount of corporate loans came to 1,259.2 trillion won ($1.03 trillion) at end-March, up 51.4 trillion won from three months earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marks the largest on-quart -
Pork price on rise amid pandemicEconomyJun 2, 2020The price of pork increased in May from a year earlier as a growing number of people preferred preparing meals at home amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The average wholesale price of pork reached 5,115 won ($4.18) per kilogram in May, up 22 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The number of pigs slaughtered in May reached 1.4 million units, up 1.5 percent from the month's average, it added. -
S. Korea, Australia to broaden ties in green energy segmentEconomyJun 2, 2020South Korea and Australia agreed Tuesday to beef up cooperation in the energy segment to continue to expand the use of environment friendly resources despite the rising uncertainties stemming from the new coronavirus pandemic. Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo and his Australian counterpart, Keith Pitt, held a virtual meeting, and they vowed to forge deeper ties especially as the pandemic has put strain on and caused uncertainties in the global resources market, according to the Ministry of Trade, -
Korea's inflation dips 0.3% in May, first fall in 8 monthsEconomyJun 2, 2020SEJONG -- South Korea's consumer prices fell 0.3 percent on-year in May due mainly to a fall in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, marking the first annual decline in eight months, data showed Tuesday. The May tally compares with a 0.1 percent on-year gain in March, according to the data released by Statistics Korea. The nation's inflation fell 0.2 percent on-month, the data showed. Core inflation, which excludes agricultural and petroleum products, rose 0.5 percent from a year earli -
Seoul stocks open higher on US gainsMarketsJun 2, 2020South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street amid investors' expectations for economic reopening in the United States. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 10.03 points, or 0.49 percent, to 2,075.11 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The gains were mainly attributed to the optimism over the US post-lockdown economic reopening, bucking Sino-US political tensions over Beijing's passing of a new national security law for Hong Kong.
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