South Korean stocks dropped to a five-month low on Friday as investors remained concerned over a protracted slump in the global economy, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 24.33 points, or 1.24 percent, to 1,940.92. Trading volume was moderate at 338 million shares worth 4.35 trillion won ($4.06 billion), with losers far outnumbering gainers, 620 to 214. Friday’s closing marks the lowest since 1,939.88 on May 7. The

The money drawn into bond funds has nearly caught up with that for securities funds as investors chose safer assets amid a tepid stock market and rising bond yields following a recent key interest rate cut, data showed Friday. Bond-type funds amounted to a combined 58.96 trillion won ($55 billion) as of Oct. 6, while securities funds recorded 59.66 trillion won, posting the smallest gap between them since August 2007, according to the data by the Korea Exchange. Analysts say that with the stock

South Korea's central bank chief said Thursday that monetary policy alone cannot stimulate Asia's fourth-largest economy, stressing that the weak investment sentiment stems mainly from structural problems.Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol made the remark to reporters in Washington as the BOK is set to decide its key interest rate for October next week. Lee was in Washington to attend annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group."I believe there definit

South Korean banks projected the credit risks of South Korean companies to remain high in the fourth quarter of this year amid economic uncertainties, central bank data showed Thursday.An index measuring small and medium companies’ credit risks came in at 28 for the October-December period, remaining unchanged from the previous quarter, according to the survey of 16 local banks conducted by the Bank of Korea.Credit risks refer to the likelihood of borrowers being unable to repay debt. A reading

The monetary stabilization bonds issued by the nation’s central bank soared to 180.6 trillion won ($168.1 billion) during the first nine months of this year, the Bank of Korea said Thursday.The figures are up 9.5 percent from a year earlier, the bank added. The bonds grew at the fastest pace since October 2010 when MSBs surged 10.1 percent compared to the same period in 2013. This year’s increase was double the growth rate of the country’s nominal gross domestic product over the same period, the

Chinese investors bought Korean shares and bonds worth 3.22 trillion won (US$3.11 billion) in the first nine months of the year to outdo investors from the United States and Japan, data showed Wednesday.China's net buying of South Korean shares amounted to 2.51 trillion won as of end-September, trailing behind the U.S. and Japan, but its purchase of 1.18 trillion won in Korean bonds far surpassed other countries to make it the No. 1 source of foreign investment in South Korea, according to the F

The finance ministers of South Korea and Japan are to hold a meeting this week to discuss the latest global economic conditions and ways to expand bilateral financial cooperation, Korea’s Finance Ministry said Tuesday.The meeting will be held between Korean Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan and his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso, on Friday in Washington on the sidelines of the annual gathering of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, according to the ministry.The meeting marks the f

Foreign investors’ buying of local stocks so far this year has topped the 8 trillion won mark, sharply rising from last year’s 3.4 trillion won, data showed Monday.Overseas investors bought local stocks worth a combined net 8.3 trillion won ($7.76 billion) on the Seoul bourse in the January-September period, according to the data by the Korea Exchange. They bought 5.2 trillion won worth of local stocks in the third quarter, following a net buying of 5.88 trillion won the previous quarter.Foreign

South Korea’s credit card firms paid more than 200 billion won ($186.7 million) in fees to the world’s two largest payment-services providers Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. last year, financial data showed Monday. According to the data, local card firms gave a commission of 124.6 billion won to the two foreign card companies for the use of their card names in 2013. They also paid them 29.5 billion won in fees in return for using their global networks and 50.1 billion won in card issuance and main

FSS guards against renmibi monopolization; HSBC, SC jump at new market opportunity

South Korean stocks extended their loss to the seventh consecutive day on Monday as the won’s sharp decline to the U.S. dollar stoked concerns of an outflow of foreign capital from the local stock market, analysts said. The local currency dropped against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 7.86 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,968.30. Trading volume was moderate at 315 million shares worth 4.2 trillion won ($3.93 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers, 483 to 357

South Korea's chief financial regulator said Monday he will give more autonomy to financial companies in choosing security programs for their online payment systems in an effort to simplify Internet purchases."I will let financial firms choose their security programs for online payment systems," Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Shin Je-yoon said in a meeting with officials from IT ventures and electronics firms including Daum Kakao, LG Uplus Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and eBay Ko