Seoul shares extend gains on foreign buying

South Korean stocks extended gains late Friday morning as foreign investors scooped up large-cap stocks.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 22.02 points, or 0.94 percent, to 2,366.63 as of 11:20 a.m.On Friday, foreigners turned net buyers of domestic stocks worth 239 billion won ($213 million) after shedding local shares in the past three sessions. Their net buying appears to be affected by two factors, analysts said. A rally in US stocks and expectations of an economic recove

June 2, 2017

Samsung's Bixby joins forces with local banks

Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday it has reached an agreement with three local banks to allow users to use banking services via its voice command program, Bixby.The South Korean tech giant said under the project with Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank and KEB Hana Bank, users can ask the artificial intelligence program Bixby to display bank accounts or make financial transactions through voice. Users with a Woori account can also make currency exchanges via Bixby. The program was first adopted on S

June 2, 2017

Korean bourse fares best worldwide in May

South Korea's stock market was white-hot on massive foreign buying in May, emerging as the top performer among bourses in major advanced and emerging countries, data showed Friday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,347.38 Wednesday, up 6.4 percent from a month earlier, according to the data by the Korea Exchange and the Korea Center for International Finance.The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index came next with a 4.2 percent increase, followed by India's Mumbai Index with 4.1 per

June 2, 2017

Savings banks see Q1 profits gain 13.6% on higher interest income

The combined net profit of South Korea's 79 savings banks rose 13.6 percent on-year for the first quarter of this year, thanks to higher interest income, data showed Friday. Preliminary net profit of savings banks stood at 249.6 billion won ($222 million) for the January-March period, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. During the quarter, their interest income jumped by 135.5 billion won, while loan-loss provisions increased by 52.9 billion won, the data showed. The

June 2, 2017

Stocks open higher on US gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 15.33 points, or 0.65 percent, to 2,359.94 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics advanced 1.34 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 1.24 percent and leading cosmetics company AmorePacific was up 0.44 percent.Among losers, top carmaker Hyundai Motor declined 3.02 percent on profit-

June 2, 2017

YG shares nosedive on reports of Big Bang’s T.O.P marijuana charge

YG Entertainment’s stock slid 4.2 percent as it was reported that Big Bang’s T.O.P is being investigated after testing positive for marijuana.YG, the agency which Big Bang is signed to, saw share prices drop sharply around 2:40 p.m., when the first report of T.O.P’s use of the illegal substance was released. Prices closed at 33,000 won ($30), down 4.2 percent from a trading session earlier.Trade volume of YG stocks, which ranged between 30,000 and 40,000 during the first five t

June 1, 2017

Korea to sell W7.7tr state bonds in June

South Korea plans to sell a combined 7.7 trillion won ($6.86 billion) of state bonds this month, the finance ministry said Thursday.The government will issue 1.8 trillion won in bonds with a maturity of three years, and 1.9 trillion won in five-year bonds in June. It also plans to sell 1.8 trillion won worth of 10-year Treasurys and a combined 2.2 trillion won of bonds with a maturity of between 20 and 30 years.In May, a total of 9.94 trillion won worth of Treasurys, including inflation-indexed

June 1, 2017

Seoul stocks slip on profit-taking

South Korean stocks ended lower Thursday as foreign investors and institutions cashed in recent gains following a month-long rally amid US uncertainties, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 2.77 points, or 0.12 percent, to close at 2,344.61. Trade volume was moderate at 331 million shares worth 5.28 trillion won ($4.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 449 to 355.Institutional investors and foreigners offloaded a n

June 1, 2017

Korean banks’ financial health improves

The capital adequacy ratio of banks and financial groups in South Korea improved in the first quarter of 2017 on the back of eased risk-weighted assets, data showed Wednesday.On average, based on the Bank for International Settlements, the capital requirement ratio of South Korea‘s 17 banks came to 15.14 percent, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. It inched up 0.33 percentage point compared to the end of 2016. The regulatory capital ratio is the percentage of a bank‘s ca

June 1, 2017

Daily turnover of won-yuan direct trading dips through May

The average daily turnover of the South Korean won-Chinese yuan direct trading market in Seoul fell slightly in the first five months of the year from last year, government data showed Thursday.The daily trading volume in the Seoul won-yuan direct market reached $1.55 billion in the January-May period, down from last year's daily average turnover of $1.95 billion, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and the Bank of Korea. The turnover has been on a decline sin

June 1, 2017

Seoul shares down on foreign, institutional selling

South Korean stocks traded lower late Thursday morning as foreign investors and institutions offloaded large-cap stocks in an apparent move to lock in profits.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 3.99 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,343.39 as of 11:20 a.m.Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics inching down 0.27 percent after opening higher. SK hynix, a major chipmaker, also shed 1.05 percent.The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp., meanwhile, gained 3

June 1, 2017

Stocks open lower on profit-taking

South Korean stocks opened lower on Thursday, as investors attempted to cash in recent gains, but top market cap Samsung Electronics continued to build up gains.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 3.6 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,343.78 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was up 0.22 percent, continuing a two-day winning streak. Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, moved up

June 1, 2017

Banks' Q1 capital ratio improves on reduced risky assets

South Korean banks saw their financial health improve slightly in the first-quarter of this year, helped by less exposure to risky assets, the financial regulator said Thursday. The average capital adequacy ratio of 17 commercial and state-run banks stood at 15.14 percent as of end-March, up 0.33 percentage point from the previous quarter, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. A key barometer of financial soundness, the ratio measures the proportion of a bank's capital to its risk-weig

June 1, 2017

Board member says BOK should keep monetary easing policy

South Korea's central bank should maintain the current monetary easing policy to support growth, a member of the Bank of Korea's monetary policy board said Wednesday.Koh Seung-beom made the case during a luncheon meeting with reporters at the BOK headquarters in central Seoul, noting the recovery of domestic demand is not strong yet. He also said he does not believe a US rate hike could trigger any immediate foreign capital outflows from South Korea.His comments came six days after the BOK's mon

May 31, 2017

[Monitor] Average W3.6tr traded via smartphone

The use and the amount of money traded via smartphone banking apps has continues to surge becoming a major transaction platform, the Bank of Korea’s data showed.As of the first quarter this year, an average of 94.12 million transactions were made through smartphone banking, up 7.3 percent from the previous quarter, accounting for up 61 percent of all internet banking.Daily transactions averaged 3.63 trillion won, up 8.3 percent from the previous quarter.As of the end of March, a total of 7

May 31, 2017

Kosdaq logs record highs for 2 straight days

South Korea’s tech-heavy stock market hit this year’s record high for two consecutive days, topping the 650 mark for the first time in more than seven months on Wednesday. The benchmark Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations closed at 652.04, up 0.46 percent from the previous trading day Tuesday, when it closed at 649.06.The index for the second-tier market had not surpassed 650 mark since Oct. 21, 2016, when it came to 651.77. After reaching 643.68 on Jan. 6, the figure has

May 31, 2017

Mirae Asset Daewoo denies plan to acquire SK Securities

Mirae Asset Daewoo on Wednesday denied recent reports that the company is considering taking over SK Securities. A report on the previous day said that the company would push forward several takeovers to expand its equities and develop itself into a mega investment bank. It also predicted that SK Securities is the leading candidate as there were rumors that Mirae Asset Daewoo Chairman Park Hyeon-joo had made a visit to the SK group recently.Such news had led to the jump in SK Securities’ s

May 31, 2017

Lee Jung-hee to head Deloitte Anjin

Deloitte Anjin has named its new CEO Lee Jung-hee, who has been managing partner in Deloitte Tax group since 2010, the accounting firm said Wednesday.Lee will take the helm starting Thursday. The career accountant, known for his expertise as a corporate tax adviser for multinational companies, is expected to serve a 3-year term.Lee was nominated as a sole candidate for the chief executive in a committee Friday. The committee put it to a vote in favor Monday.Born in 1960, Lee became a certif

May 31, 2017

KB Savings Bank to launch simplify sign-in service

KB Savings Bank will launch a simplified authorizing service next month, allowing users to access smartphone banking services without certificate verification or other security media.The service will enable customers who have downloaded KB Savings Bank’s smartphone application to open new bank accounts and utilize financial services with their personal identification numbers only. It can be used straight after a simple procedure of a non-face-to-face real name confirmation process as long

May 31, 2017

Korean institutional investment into foreign stocks, bonds hits new high

Investment by South Korean institutional investors into foreign bonds and stocks hit a record high at the end of March this year, official data showed Wednesday. The data suggested that appetite by South Korean insurers, brokerages and asset management firms for riskier assets in foreign countries improved amid record-low interest rates at home.  The total holdings of foreign bonds and stocks by South Korean institutional investors stood at $192.9 billion at the end of March, the Bank of Ko

May 31, 2017