The coupling effect of equity price changes has become increasingly visible on the main bourses of Korea and China, stock research analysts reported Thursday.The two countries have seen concurrent rises and falls in their benchmark indices since June 13 on every day except one.On those days, the indices saw continued drops compared to the previous days, except June 14 and 17 when they both went up. The coupling effect is reflective of the increasing influence of the Chinese economy and stock mar

The Financial Supervisory Service is poised to turn up the heat on chiefs of companies whose customers were inconvenienced or faced damage due to cyber security lapses.Chief executives in the financial industry will likely be held more accountable when their firms undergo leaks of customers’ private information through hacker attacks.Officials at the FSS said Thursday that the regulatory agency will unveil a package of comprehensive countermeasures, aimed at bolstering financial firms’ security

South Korean stocks shot up 2.87 percent Thursday, as investors opted to scoop up shares after policy jitters stemming from the U.S. and China waned, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 51.25 points to close at 1,834.70. Trading volume was light at 281.4 million shares worth 4.06 trillion won (US$3.51 billion) with gainers far outnumbering decliners 743 to 115.   "The index is quickly making up for its s

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest smartphone maker, increased its dominance of the Western Europe smartphone market in the first quarter of the year, data showed Thursday.Samsung sold 14.3 million units in the region during the January-March period, taking up 45 percent of the market, according to the data compiled by market researcher IDC.The first-quarter figure compares with the 39 percent market share a year earlier, it showed.On the other hand, Apple Inc. saw its sales fall to 6.

South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Thursday, as disappointing U.S. growth data eased concerns that its government may start withdrawing its monetary easing policy, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 35.93 points, or 2.01 percent, to 1,819.38 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Top-listed firms gathered ground, with Samsung Electronics shooting up nearly 4 percent and Hyundai Motor gaining 2.4 percent. The U.S. economy expanded 1.8 percent on-year

South Korea's current account surplus hit a record high in May as exports of tech products remained solid amid the local currency's weakness to the U.S. dollar, the central bank said Thursday.The current account surplus reached US$8.64 billion in May, up from a revised surplus of $3.93 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.The May reading marked the 16th straight month of a surplus run and the country's

NongHyup Bank’s lax handling of customers’ private information was hit by controversy again, only three months after the March 20 hacking fiasco involving its customer database, sources said Wednesday.One of the bank’s local branches allegedly violated the regulation on the safe disposal of customer information, leaking about 10,000 customers’ personal data on June 15.The branch officials handed over the documents to secondhand dealers who collect street waste and re-sell it to recycling compani