South Korean stocks closed lower Wednesday, paring earlier gains, as individual and foreign buyers went on a selling spree, analysts said. The Korean won closed unchanged against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 5.29 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 2,360.18. Trade volume was moderate at 315 million shares worth 5.8 trillion won ($5.3 billion), with losers ...

South Korean oil refiners, led by SK Innovation Co., traded higher Wednesday, after some small corrections in the past few days, on hopes that margin spreads on key products still run high and oil prices will remain high, industry sources said. SK Innovation, the No. 1 oil refiner, traded at 195,500 won ($177) on the Seoul bourse as of 1:40 p.m., up 2.09 percent, after touching a record high of ...

Foreign investors offloaded South Korean stocks and bonds worth $3.25 billion in August due to security jitters and profit-taking, the central bank said Wednesday. Foreign investors sold local stocks and bonds worth $1.33 billion and $1.91 billion, respectively, the Bank of Korea said. It marked the first sell-off by foreign investors since November 2016, when foreign investors offloaded South ...

South Korean shares traded slightly higher late Wednesday morning as institutional buyers scooped up big cap stocks amid a massive selling spree by foreigners. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched up 1.73 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,367.2 as of 11:20 a.m. The index initially opened lower on losses in market heavyweights despite overnight Wall Street gains. However, the local...

South Korea's top financial regulator said Wednesday it will swiftly map out plans to loosen restrictions on financial firms, allowing them to easily make inroads into new businesses. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remarks at a job fair for the financial industry. The official said the FSC will "fully review financial firms' business restrictions by sector...

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Wednesday despite overnight Wall Street gains as both institutional and foreign investors offloaded local large caps, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched down 2.56 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,362.91 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Tuesday (local time), the major Wall Street indexes hit record highs, with the S&...

The combined net profit of 165 investment advisory firms in South Korea more than tripled on-quarter in the fiscal first quarter of this year, thanks to a rise in commission fees as the stock market rallied, data showed Wednesday. The investment advisory firms reported a combined net profit of 28.4 billion won ($25.1 million) during the fiscal first quarter, which ended in June, compared to a pr...

South Korean savings banks' household loans have spiked 21 percent over the past year to hit a record high despite their high interest, data showed Wednesday. Savings banks' outstanding household lending came to 20.2 trillion won ($17.9 billion) as of end-July, up 20.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. It has surpassed the 20 trillion-won mark for the fi...

South Korean stocks closed higher Tuesday as institutional buyers scooped up shares, taking a cue from overnight Wall Street gains, analysts said. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 6.39 points, or 0.27 percent, to close at 2,365.47. Trade volume was moderate at 328 million shares worth 4.9 trillion won ($4.3 billion), with gainers...

South Korean stocks traded higher late Tuesday morning on eased concerns over geopolitical tensions caused by North Korea's nuclear provocations. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 4.14 points, or 0.18 percent, to 2,363.22 as of 11:20 a.m. Earlier in the day, the UN Security Council adopted a set of fresh sanctions against North Korea following Pyongyang's sixth and most pow...

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, taking a cue from overnight Wall Street gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 8.17 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,367.25 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was up 0.28 percent, while SK hynix, a major chipmaker, gained 0.54 percent. Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, climbed 0.74 percent, while...

Offshore investors turned to net sellers of South Korean stocks in August, official data showed Tuesday, marking the first monthly outflows in eight months amid worries about North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations. Foreign investors sold a net 2.4 trillion won ($2.12 billion) worth of local stocks last month, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. Investors from the...

A vote by the United Nations Security Council to implement further sanctions on North Korea would have limited impact on South Korea’s stock market, analysts here said Monday, amid signs of geopolitical risks abating on the market. The stock market in Korea bounced back from Friday losses. The first-tier Kospi closed at 2,359.08, up 0.66 percent, while the secondary Kosdaq rose 0.34 percent. Sh...

South Korean stocks closed higher Monday as institutional buyers scooped up large-cap tech shares, recouping last week's losses sparked by concerns over North Korea's nuclear provocations. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 15.36 points, or 0.66 percent, to close at 2,359.08. Trade volume was low at 238 million shares worth 4.8 tri...

South Korean banks failed to make it into the global top tier in capital volume last year, data showed Monday. According to an estimate by Korea Ratings, none of the country’s banking groups were among the top 60 in terms of core capital as of the end of 2016. Five banking groups -- KB Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group, Hana Financial Group, Woori Bank and the state-run Korea Development...