South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Thursday as investors digest high-flying inflation data in the United States, a factor that could hasten the Federal Reserve's tapering. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged up 1.08 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,973.56 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a muted start as the US consumer price index showed a...

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday the government plans to spend 6.3 trillion won ($5.3 billion) to support corporate facility investment in vaccine development by 2024. The move is aimed at nurturing the vaccine industry as a key sector at a similar level to the semiconductor industry as South Korea seeks to foster new industries to secure engines of growth, according to the finance min...

South Korea's import prices fell for the second straight month in December from a month earlier as the costs of importing oil and other raw materials declined, central bank data showed Thursday. The import price index dropped 1.9 percent last month from November, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. This marked the second on-month decline following a 1 percent contraction i...

Korea ranks 26th of 33 OECD members in Q3 employment

The latest Big Tech stock dip becomes wake-up call for South Koreans in their 20s and 30s who thought they were investing in something relatively safe

South Korean stocks closed sharply higher Wednesday, as the US Fed chief's comments about inflation were largely within market expectations. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) gained 4.51 points, or 1.54 percent, to close at 2,972.48 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 506 million shares worth some 10.8 trillion won ($9.1 ...

South Korea's top 100 companies have seen their total market capitalization swell nearly 11 percent over the past one-year period, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The combined market value of those leading firms came to 2,128 trillion won ($1.78 trillion) as of Jan. 3 this year, up 10.8 percent from a year earlier, according to Korea CXO Institute. The number of listed firms with a market c...

South Korea's money supply expanded in November as savings increased due in part to rising interest rates, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's M2, a key gauge of the money supply, stood at 3,589.1 trillion won ($3.01 trillion) on average in November, up 1.1 percent, or 39.4 trillion won, from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The grow...

Regulator reviews punitive measures against shippers' alleged price fixingSouth Korea's antitrust regulator was holding a deliberation session Wednesday to decide punitive actions against HMM Co. and 22 other shippers over their suspected price fixing of freight rates. Since 2018, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has been looking into allegations that the country's top shipper HMM and 22 domestic...

South Korean stocks opened steeply higher Wednesday as the US Fed chief's comments about inflation were largely within market expectations. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 27.86 points, or 0.95 percent, to 2,955.24 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a strong start, taking a cue from overnight rallies on Wall Street. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasd...

Major listed companies in South Korea have sharply increased their disposal of treasury shares over the past three years due mainly to efforts to boost their stock prices, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. A total of 129 listed firms retired or distributed to executives treasury shares worth 4.51 trillion won ($3.78 billion) last year, slightly up from 4.08 trillion won from 2020, according to...

South Korea added the most jobs in seven years in 2021 as the job market recovered to pre-pandemic levels due to the base effect and the economic recovery, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people reached 27.27 million last year, 369,000 more than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the largest number since 2014, when the nation reported an ...

Naver and Kakao, Korea’s two largest online service providers, saw their market caps shrinking by 7 trillion won each ($5.8 billion) for the last two weeks amid continued market fluctuation over a potential rate hike by the US Federal Reserve and growing uncertainty over their growth and management ethics. The US Fed has hinted that it will reduce its overall asset holdings sooner than expected ...

SEJONG -- South Korea’s brisk export performance, which started in the fourth quarter of 2020 as a rebound or recovery, has continued during the first 10 days of 2022, state customs data showed Tuesday. According to the Korea Customs Service, the nation’s exports reached $13.9 billion during the period of Jan. 1-10, up 24.4 percent compared to $11.2 billion over the same period of 2021. By main...

South Korean stocks finished nearly unchanged Tuesday as investors await comments by the US Federal Reserve chief at the Senate hearing. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged up 0.66 points, or 0.02 percent, to close at 2,927.38 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 559 million shares worth some 10.5 trillion won ($8.8 bi...