South Korean stocks closed marginally lower Friday as institutions and foreigners sold off local equities amid no fresh momentum to fuel the market, analysts said. The local currency edged up against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 3.26 points, or 0.17 percent, to finish at 1,880.71.Trading volume was light at 276.5 million shares worth 3.48 trillion won ($3.12 billion) with losers outpacing gainers 454 to 316. The main index moved in a tight ran

South Korean stocks traded slightly higher late Friday morning, as shares of large-cap exporters pared earlier losses, analysts said. In a choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 2.89 points, or 0.15 percent, to 1,886.86 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech giant Samsung Electronics shot up 1.5 percent, with chipmaker SK hynix jumping nearly 3 percent. In contrast, chemical and telecom issues lost ground. LG Chem shed 1 percent, and top mobile carrier SK Telecom slid 0.7 pe

South Korean stocks turned lower after starting higher on Friday, led by losses in insurers and oil refiners, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slipped 2.16 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,881.81 in the first 15 minutes of trading.   Leading nonlife insurer Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance fell 1.6 percent, with SK Innovation, a major oil refiner, dipping 1.4 percent.    But top-listed firms went up. Samsung Electronics climbed 1.2 percent, and Hyundai Motor r

Clergy to be taxed from 2015 under tax code revision

Naver Corp., South Korea’s top Internet portal operator, said Thursday its second-quarter profit jumped 7.5 percent from a year earlier, buoyed by increased revenue from ad and messenger services.Net profit reached 123 billion won ($110 million) in the April-June period, compared with 114 billion won the previous year, Naver, formerly known as NHN, said in a regulatory filing.Revenue rose 26.3 percent on-year to 723 billion won in the second quarter, and operating profit gained 19.6 percent to 1

BEIJING (Yonhap News) ― The Chinese affiliate of Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate, said Thursday it has been selected as one of China’s most admired companies, citing an annual survey of a Chinese economic daily. China Samsung was included on a list of the six most-admired foreign companies in the survey of Chinese academics and journalists, conducted by the Beijing-based Economic Observer daily, China Samsung said in a statement. Other foreign companies included International B

Consumers in Korea pay more for camping equipment than those in the U.S., Japan and Australia despite low satisfaction over quality, research showed on Thursday. A “Smart Consumer Report” by YWCA Seoul showed that camping equipment made by the same outdoor brands was more costly in Korea than in other countries. But 558 campers in Seoul and surrounding areas who participated in the survey said equipment quality did not match the high prices.The Korean camping market has been on a steady rise, ha

South Korean stocks closed marginally higher Thursday buoyed by China's upbeat trade data that eased concern on a hard-landing of Asia's No. 1 economy, analysts said.The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 5.64 points, or 0.3 percent, to finish at 1,883.97. Trading volume was moderate at 333.8 million shares worth 3.61 trillion won ($3.24 billion) with gainers outpacing decliners 427 to 335. "China posted fairly good exports,

South Korean stocks traded 0.53 percent higher late Thursday morning, led by gains in state-run companies and shipyards, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shot up 9.93 points to 1,888.26 as of 11:20 a.m.   The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. soared nearly 5 percent, with Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's biggest shipyard, jumping more than 3 percent.   In contrast, telecom shares fell. Top player SK Telecom lost 1 percent, and LG Uplus slumped 3.5

Central bank freezes rate at 2.5% as economy moderately recovers

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Thursday on a technical rebound led by blue-chip gains, making up for bearish runs in the past few sessions, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared 12.02 points, or 0.64 percent, to 1,890.35 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Defensive shares drove up the main index, with state-run electricity provider Korea Electric Power Corp. surging more than 4 percent. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics was up nearly 0.

Standard Chartered Plc, the U.K. bank that makes about three-quarters of its earnings from Asia, posted a 24 percent drop in first-half profit after writing down the value of its Korean business by $1 billion.Net income fell to $2.18 billion from $2.86 billion a year earlier, the London-based lender said in a statement Tuesday. Revenue rose 6.6 percent as growth in Hong Kong and India mitigated declines in Korea, Singapore and China.Standard Chartered and HSBC Holdings Plc, which also makes most

Credit card holders will be banned from paying back cash advances in installments from next February.Major companies including Hyundai Card, KB Kookmin Card, Samsung Card have already halted the practice.Other players that have not yet done so will end installment-based debt payments before March 2014, according to sources in the industry.The move comes after financial authorities urged credit card firms to stop offering the services to help control the country’s snowballing household debt, espe