South Korean stocks closed almost unchanged Thursday as nagging eurozone concerns offset improved U.S. economic data, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 1.53 points, or 0.08 percent, to finish at 1,819.18. Trading volume was light at 305 million shares worth 3.10 trillion won (US$2.68 billion) with losers just outpaci

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Thursday, tracking overnight gains in U.S. markets buoyed by improved economic data, analysts said.The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 3.46 points, or 0.19 percent to 1,821.11 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares gathered ground across the board, with memory chipmaker SK hynix and leading carmaker Hyundai Motor rising nearly 1 perce

South Korea's current account surplus hit a six-month high in May due mainly to a fall in dividend payouts to foreign investors, the central bank said Thursday.The current account surplus reached $3.61 billion in May, up from a revised $1.73 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.The May data marked the la

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― Hyundai Motor Co. sold more than 310,000 vehicles in China in the first five months of this year, a market researcher said Wednesday, indicating Korea’s largest automaker has managed to maintain growth in the world’s largest auto market. According to LMC Automotive, a global research firm for the automotive industry, Hyundai Motor sold 314,600 units in China during the January-May period, up 2 percent from a year earlier.In May, Hyundai Motor sold 62,350 units, compared

Organic light-emitting diode television, the next emerging display technology following liquid crystal display TVs, will soon replace plasma display panels and traditional cathode ray tube TVs in people’s living rooms, according to DisplaySearch.The global OLED TV market is forecast to grow 10-fold annually by 2014, and reach over 10 million sets in terms of annual sales by 2016, the global display research firm said.With Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, two leading global TV giants, expe

Hyundai Motor has continued to post lethargic sales of fuel-efficient cars including the Avante and Sonata hybrids.The automaker’s monthly sales of the Avante hybrid dropped to 118 units on average in May despite a price cut, while the average monthly figure stood at 175 units throughout 2011.Monthly sales of the Sonata hybrid have also fallen to 969 units, compared to the average figure of 1,027 units last year.Though Hyundai Motor has actively been promoting the hybrid models since the first h

South Korean stocks closed marginally lower Wednesday as lingering concerns over the eurozone debt crisis kept investors reluctant to make risky bets, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The Korea Composite Stock Price Index edged down 0.15 points, or 0.01 percent, to finish at 1,817.66. Trading volume was moderate at 315.3 million shares worth 4.26 trillion won ($3.68 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 465 to 338.“There’s nothing from the ‘outside’ to invite inve

Union members of LG Display, Korea’s display-making giant, will reach out and support children of firefighters and police officers who died in the line of duty.LG Display’s union said Wednesday that it forged ties with the Korea National Council on Social Welfare to provide scholarship funds to those children living in Gyeonggi Province and North Gyeongsang Province.The union plans to give scholarships of 1 million won each annually to children in elementary, junior and high schools, and 2 milli

Global sales of personal computers may drop as much as 10 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier due to weakening demand, according to a Forbes report known in Seoul on Wednesday.PC sales could fall around 5-10 percent in the July-September period from the previous year as PC giants such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard continue to suffer softening demand, according to a recent Forbes report that cites Jefferies & Company Inc. analyst Peter Misek.Misek said China-based Huawei’s possible exp