South Korean shares extended their winning streak to end at a new record high Friday on the back of improved investors' sentiment on gains from the Wall Street, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 12.37 points, or 0.53 percent, to reach an all-time high of 2,355.30. Trade volume was moderate at 309.17 million shares wort...

South Korea's top lender KB Kookmin Bank said Friday that it has successfully issued $400 million worth of bonds in Taiwan, becoming the first local bank to do so. The Formosa bonds will mature in five years and carry a floating rate with the spread set at 0.95 percentage point plus the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate, a benchmark interest rate in the global financial market, the bank ...

The average daily stock trading by foreign investors reached nearly 2 trillion won ($1.78 billion) this month, the highest ever in recorded history, according to the Korea Exchange on Friday. In the past 25 days, the average trading value by foreigners for Korean stocks has been 1.99 trillion won, marking the highest value recorded since the Korea Composite Stock Price Index started collecting f...

South Korean stocks traded 0.42 percent higher late Friday morning, led by gains in logistics and tech firms, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 9.73 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,352.66 as of 11:20 a.m. CJ Logistics climbed 1.3 percent, and market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 0.6 percent. In contrast, autos trended lower. Top automaker Hyundai Motor w...

South Korean stocks opened with a marginal gain on Friday, taking a breather from the previous session's rally that hit an all-time high, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index was up 0.91 point, or 0.04 percent to trade at 2,343.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The main index closed at a record high on Thursday, fueled by the rate freeze of the central bank, which...

Money floating around the South Korean stock market has grown steadily this year as investors park funds in short-term equity-related vehicles amid financial uncertainty and a recent market rally, data showed Friday. The amount of money sitting idle around the local equity market came to 298 trillion won ($266 billion) as of Thursday, up 12.4 percent from the end of 2016, according to the data b...

South Korea’s pension behemoth the National Pension Service said it has decided to allocate more funds in stock investment, up to 45 percent of the total fund, by 2022. Currently managing about 563 trillion won ($503 billion) fund, the NPS’ fund management committee decided on the five-year investment portfolio during 2018-2022 in a meeting at a hotel in Seoul, Thursday. According to the latest...

The benchmark index of South Korea‘s main bourse continued its run into an unprecedented high for the fourth straight trading day Thursday, riding on the US market rallies after the release of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at record-high at 2,342.93, rising 1.1 percent compared to Wednesday. The top-tier stock market opened a tad higher a...

The head of President Moon Jae-in’s de facto transition team Thursday urged the Financial Services Commission to adopt a new way to curb household debt and speed up liquidation of debt-ridden firms. Kim Jin-pyo, chairman of the State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee, raised the question of the viability of the current measure to tackle what he called “persisting economic woes in the perspect...

Standard Chartered Bank Korea is holding an appreciation event until the end of May offering Shinsegae mobile gift certificates to all customers who sign up for its asset management services. The bank said that a first-time customer will be given a mobile gift card worth up to 30,000 won ($27) on all asset services that exceed 1 million won. To qualify for the gift card event, accounts and bala...

South Korean shares traded higher late Thursday morning and are poised to close at a fresh record high, as foreign and institutional buyers scooped up market heavyweights amid upward momentum, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index sharply gained 21.88 points, or 0.94 percent, to 2,339.22 as of 11:20 a.m. Large caps on the Seoul bourse were mostly bullish, with telecom a...

Dividend payouts by South Korean listed firms to foreign investors rose 18.9 percent on year last year, data showed Thursday, in a move that could help offshore investors regain confidence in the nation's stock market. Companies whose fiscal year ends on Dec. 31 made a total of 8.79 trillion won ($7.78 billion) in dividend payments to foreign investors, according to the data by the Korea Securit...

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 6.71 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,324.05 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Wednesday, US stocks rose to post a five-day winning streak on tech gains. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.4 percent to 21,012.42, and the Nasdaq Composite In...

Woori Bank has launched an artificial intelligence-based financial adviser, or “robo adviser,” as well as robots built for customer assistance at local branches. The nation’s fourth-largest commercial bank announced Wednesday the AI-based program “Woori Robo-Alpha” will reach out to customers to offer asset management portfolios “tailored to their investment propensity,” starting Wednesday. Woor...

The first-tier stock market in South Korea remained ceilingless for three consecutive days Wednesday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,317.34, up 0.24 percent compared to Tuesday closing at a record-high 2,311.74, despite losses in gains from early morning trade. Opening at 2,318.86, the Kospi peaked at 2,322.54 in about 10 minutes -- the highest in history. The index...