South Korean stocks fell 0.62 percent Tuesday due to the weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 12.02 points to close at 1,920.68. Trading volume was low at 258.2 million shares worth 4.37 trillion won (US$3.86 billion) with losers outpacing gainers 445 to 378.   "Chemical firms and oil refiners traded lower as China's economic data failed to meet the market expect

Japan's central bank has ended a two-day policy meeting with an upbeat assessment for the world's No. 3 economy and a pledge to persist with its aggressive monetary easing policies aimed at ending years of growth-sapping deflation.The Bank of Japan said Tuesday that the economy was picking up, supported by government and consumer spending, and it expects the rate of change in the inflation benchmark to “gradually turn positive.”However it noted a “high degree of uncertainty” for Japan, as well a

 South Korean stocks traded 0.82 percent lower late Tuesday morning on losses in techs and insurers, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 15.77 points to 1,916.93 as of 11:20 a.m.   Tech shares traded bearish, with Samsung Electronics falling 2.25 percent and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, a South Korean industrial parts maker, losing 1.63 percent.   Insurers also lost ground, with Samsung Life Insurance falling 1.83 percent and Samsung Fire & Marine Insuranc

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Tuesday that it will adopt stricter methods and standards that could drive up fines and other punishment for business practices hurting fair market principles.The Fair Trade Commission said that it has revised a "notice on detailed guidelines with regard to imposing fines." The revised notice will go into effect next Monday.Under the new rules, the FTC is able to produce a point-based system with which it can measure the "extent of severity" of illegal activ

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday as investors' sentiment was dented by the weak Japanese currency, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 9.43 points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,923.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Tech blue chips traded lower, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 1.47 percent and its smaller domestic rival LG Electronics losing 0.26 percent. Top chipmaker SK hynix declined 0.31 percent.Brokerage houses also traded b

South Korea sees the currency swap contract with Japan as a matter of "financial cooperation" between the two countries, a high-ranking government official said Tuesday.The remarks come in response to a Japanese media report that Tokyo would not extend the soon-to-be-expired US$3 billion currency swap contract unless Seoul asks for its extension. It is to expire on July 3."The amount is not that significant given our current financial market situation. I think that it is a matter of bilateral fi

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Monday that the government would ease rules governing the establishment of child care centers and increase its financial support to them.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will be overseeing the process of deregulation to encourage the private corporate sector to build centers for their employees, the Finance Ministry said.The ministries said that they were aiming for 70 percent of private businesses to build child care centers within their compl

The Finance Ministry is considering selling some of its dominant stake in the Industrial Bank of Korea in an apparent bid to raise state funds for President Park Geun-hye’s policy agenda, government officials said Monday.While the ministry holds a 65.1 percent stake in IBK, it is seeking to dispose of about 15 percent and maintain its position as majority shareholder with a controlling stake of about 50.1 percent, according to officials.To attract investors, the state-funded IBK, in coordination

Korea’s Fair Trade Commission said Monday that it has imposed penalties against KCC and Hankuk Glass Industries after detecting that the two flat-glass manufacturing giants colluded to rig prices of their building materials.The antitrust agency will slap combined fines of 38.4 billion won ($34.1 million) on the two companies, and name one executive from each company involved in price collusion to be prosecuted.Its penalty measures also include forbidding the two manufacturers to share any inside