Korea's foreign exchange reserves grew from a month earlier in March partly on an increase in the dollar-denominated value of non U.S. dollar assets, the central bank said Tuesday.The country's foreign exchange reserves came to $369.84 billion as of end-March, up 4.08 billion from $365.76 billion a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Bank of Korea (Yonhap)The on-month rise marked a turnaround from four consecutive months of drop.Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities an

Korean stocks started lower on Tuesday as investors attempted to lock in gains following overnight falls in Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 8.78 points, or 0.44 percent, to 1,970.19 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market heavyweights traded mixed, with top player Samsung Electronics shedding 1.23 percent.Hyundai Motor, the nation's leading automaker, rose 0.35 percent. State-run Korea Electric Power Corp. suffered 0.51 percent fall, and top steelmaker

Hyundai Merchant Marine, South Korea's No. 2 shipping line by sales, said on Monday it was mulling over selling its oil-carrier business unit to improve its financial footing."We are considering selling the oil carrier division (composed of five to six oil carrier ships) to secure liquidity and improve financial health. But nothing has been decided yet," the company said in a regulatory filing. Hyundai steel products (Yonhap)Hyundai Merchant has stepped up its efforts to sell non-core assets and

South Korea's largest multiplex cinema chain CJ CGV said Monday that it has purchased a 7.8-percent stake in Indonesian movie theater chain, PT Graha Layar Prima Tbk.The deal, valued at 34.7 billion won ($30.1 million), will help CJ CGV to make inroads into the Southeast Asian country with high potential of growth in the film market, the company said. CJ CGV (Yonhap)With the purchase, CJ CGV will control 40.25 percent of the Indonesian firm's total stakes, it said. The company further forecast t

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles looking at the performance of various sectors on Korea’s main bourse, the KOSPI. The following is the sixth installment. -- Ed.

The continuing convergence of industries -- with new technologies impacting everything from production to services -- is set to accelerate dealmaking here as companies seek to seize competitive advantage, a mergers and acquisitions expert said. “In this era of convergence when different areas of technology are merging everywhere, M&A is the only way for companies to survive,” said Lee Chang-hun, chairman of Korea M&A Exchange, an M&A matchmaking platform, in an interview with The Korea Herald at

Korean shares closed higher Monday on the back of foreigners, although the market traded sluggish earlier in the session as investors eyed the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee‘s March minutes to be announced later this week, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index moved up 5.4 points, or 0.27 percent to finish at 1,978.97. Trading volume was moderate at 357.9 million shares worth 4.21 trillion won ($3.73 billion), with gain

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles looking at the performance of various sectors on Korea’s main bourse, the KOSPI. The following is the sixth installment. -- Ed.Local commercial banks outperformed the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index last week, thanks to a recent regulatory decision that is positive for their bottom line. But that may have been only a brief rebound, analysts said, as uncertainties stemming from low interest rates, volatile foreign exchange rate and s

Hyundai Securities may have to dispose of its stake in one of Korea’s first two Internet-only banks, if and when KB Financial Group acquires it as planned, a group official said Monday. KB Financial has been chosen as the preferred bidder for a controlling 22.56 percent stake in Hyundai Securities and is now conducting due diligence on the firm.Hyundai Securities holds a 10 percent stake in K-Bank, one of the two Internet banks that Korea’s financial authorities approved last year. KB Financial

WeMade Entertainment, a KOSDAQ-listed game developer and publisher, once made a name for itself with hit titles such as “Wind Runner” and “Legend of Mir” in both PC and mobile gaming.The company even garnered attention from the market for its investment in Kakao, Korea’s most used mobile messenger, for a strategic partnership in mobile games. WeMade has a 4 percent stake in Kakao, and holds equities in notable game companies including 4:33 and Joymax. However, currently with hardly any blockbust

New foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged to Korea jumped 19.3 percent in the first three months of the year due to a sharp rise in investment from the European Union and China, the government said Monday.Fresh FDI committed to the country in the January-March period came to $4.24 billion, up from $3.55 billion a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The amount of new FDI arriving here, however, tumbled 43.1 percent on-year to $1.83 billion over the cited period

Eugene Group said March 31 that it will continue buying shares in its hostile takeover target Tong Yang, after suffering a defeat a day earlier in its first attempt to secure control of the building materials maker. “We respect the decision of other shareholders,” Tong Yang said, referring to the outcome of the previous day's shareholders meeting.At the meeting, minority shareholders, who as a whole control nearly 70 percent of Tong Yang, turned down Eugene’s proposal to add six new members to t

Korean stocks started nearly flat Monday as investors took a wait-and-see approach on the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee's March minutes to be announced later this week.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged down 1.46 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1,972.11 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech shares traded mixed, with Samsung Electronics adding 0.16 percent while chipmaker SK hynix lost 1.06 percent. LG Electronics moved up 1.48 percent.Mobile carriers were also divid

Hyundai Heavy Industries is expected to face increasing debt repayment burden stemming from its bond issues using its shares in unprofitable shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine as collateral.To secure liquidity to revive its sluggish operations, the Korea-listed shipbuilding giant issued bonds worth $220 million exchangeable to HMM equities last year.However, with HMM going through debt structuring and losing share value on the global shipping downturn, investors in Hyundai Heavy’s exchange

Analysts forecast won to weaken on U.S. rate rise expectations