"Sin stocks" of tobacco, alcohol and gambling companies have gained this year on the back of deep-pocketed Chinese tourists and low interest rates, data showed Tuesday. Thirty-six sin stocks related to tobacco, alcohol, gambling rose an average of 23.9 percent as of June 1 compared to the beginning of this year, according to the data compiled by market researcher at FnGuide. Shares of KT&G Corp., the state-run tobacco maker, increased 27.1 percent over the period after it posted stronger-than-ex

Magnetic strip credit cards without the integrated circuit chips will be unusable at automated teller machines starting Tuesday.The Financial Supervisory Service said Monday that ATMs will no longer accept conventional credit cards that do not have gold or silver-colored chip on the front but just a black magnetic strip on the back.The financial authority has gradually been restricting the use of magnetic strip cards to prevent fraud.In March, it banned these old-style credit cards from taking c

Savings banks’ lending to the household sector has reached record levels, despite coming with much higher rates than loans from commercial banks.According to the Bank of Korea on Monday, mutual savings banks’ outstanding loans issued to households posted 11.3 trillion won ($10.2 billion) at the end of March, up 10 percent, or 1.02 trillion won, from the end of last year.This marked an all-time high with an on-year growth rate of 26.1 percent.After exceeding the 10 trillion won mark in December 2

Concerns are growing over the negative effects that the U.S.’ coming interest rate hike could have on the South Korean economy, while some local analysts have downplayed the possibility that the dollar would hold a stronger position against major currencies and investors would actively withdraw from Asia.Some economists cited the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee’s tight monetary policy later this year and economic slowdowns in the U.S. and China as factors that could undermine the Korean econo

In the wake of the decline of visitors and the net interest margin, as well as the high building rents, some commercial banks have embarked on projects to reduce the number of their brick-and-mortar branches nationwide. They decided ― as a substitute ― to place a focus on portable branches as a means to approach customers in residential districts at a much lower cost.Hana Bank last week launched its third portable branch, incorporating a portable banking system inside an RV.“This new banking bra

The Finance Ministry said Friday that the country’s total national debt surpassed 1,200 trillion won ($1.1 trillion) last year, reigniting controversy over the country’s debt management. In the ministry’s fiscal report of 2014 submitted to the National Assembly, the country’s gross national debt last year stood at 1,212.7 trillion won, up 94.8 trillion won from a year ago. The report came about six weeks after the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea ordered a revision of the initial report, w

Mirae Asset’s Global Discovery Fund has seen inflows of more than $800 million since the beginning of the year, the Korean asset management firm said Thursday. As of May 26, Mirae Asset Global Investments achieved a stable gains rate in Mirae Asset Global Discovery Fund, one of its Societe d’Investissement a Capital Variable Funds, or simply SICAV, based in Luxembourg.The company attributed its performance to the 20 percent range gains rate among its Asia funds, one of the 14 SICAV funds that it