South Korean stocks slumped for the third day in a row Friday as the country decided to impose a semi-lockdown in the greater Seoul area, a hotbed for the recent spike in the new coronavirus, to rein in the fast spreading COVID-19. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) slumped 34.73 points, or 1.07 percent, to close at 3,217.95 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.3 billion shares worth some 16.2 trillion won ($14.1 billion

South Korean firms are tightening their virus prevention measures, including allowing more workers to work from home, as the country has decided to enforce the toughest social distancing rules in the greater Seoul area, the hotbed of the recent spike in new infections. South Korea's daily virus infections hit a new high with 1,316 cases, forcing the government to apply the strongest Level 4 distancing measures from Monday for two weeks. Under the Level 4 rules, private gatherings of three or m

Commercial banks in South Korea are slated to cut back on business hours in line with the highest social distancing rules of Level 4, according to the Korea Federation of Banks on Friday. Local bank branches will adjust their operating hours to between 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m, from the current 9 a.m. to 4 p.m, to combat the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus and its delta variant, officials said. The recent move came after the government announced it will implement Level 4 guidelines in Se

South Korea's electricity consumption continued to rise in May amid an accelerating economic rebound, data showed Friday. Asia's fourth-largest economy used 40,842 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of power in May, up 6.6 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO). It marked the seventh consecutive month for the power consumption to increase on-year. By segment, power consumption of the industrial sector rebounded a whopping 10.3 percent, and that of shops a

The finance ministers of South Korea and Argentina have shared concerns over the normalization of expansionary monetary policies by major economies, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Friday. During a meeting ahead of the Group of 20 meeting of top finance and economic officials held in Venice, Italy, set for Friday and Saturday, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and his Argentine counterpart Martin Guzman raised the possibility that the withdrawal of monetary easing measures, including a i

The finance ministers of South Korea and Argentina have held talks over ways to ease volatility of cross-border capital flows and strengthen economic cooperation, the finance ministry said Friday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and his Argentine counterpart, Martin Guzman, held the meeting in Venice, Italy, on Thursday (local time) on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G-20) meeting of top finance and economic officials, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. They shared the view that

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday as the country decided to impose a semi-lockdown in the greater Seoul area, a hotbed for the recent spike in the new coronavirus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 23.3 points, or 0.72 percent, to trade at 3,229.38 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Kospi came off to a lackluster start, as the country decided to raise its virus restrictions in the wider Seoul area to the highest level. The announcement came after t

The bank debt of millennials and Generation Z -- together including those born from the 1980s forward -- spiked as they increased investments in real estate, stocks and cryptocurrencies, data showed Thursday. According to the Financial Supervisory Service data released by Rep. Kim Han-jeong of the Democratic Party of Korea, millennial and Gen Z household debt from local banks surged to 26 trillion won ($22.7 billion) in March, up 4.47 trillion won from a year ago. Home-backed lending increased

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a major shipbuilder here, said Thursday it has sought a court order against unionized workers occupying a shipbuilding crane, the latest development in a drawn-out wage dispute with the labor union. The crane occupation by unionized workers at its shipyard in Ulsan started Tuesday after the management did not propose tangible proposals to solve the two-year-long wage dispute. "The workers plan to go on strike until Friday, but how long the situation will go o

South Korean stocks plunged nearly 1 percent Thursday as investors turned risk-averse amid a surge in new coronavirus cases. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) retreated 32.66 points, or 0.99 percent, to close at 3,252.68 points. The figures mark the steepest daily fall since May 13. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.5 billion shares worth some 16.5 trillion won ($14.4 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 777 to 106. F

Local lenders have decided to stop providing access to customers looking for fractional art ownership via a mobile application after facing regulatory hurdles, according to sources Thursday. 　 Shinhan Bank recently notified customers that it will terminate its service partnership with Seoul Auction Blue, an online auction house that sells contemporary paintings, art toys and luxury goods, from July 30. Since January, the lender had offered online access to co-investing in art by embedding the

The scheduled launch of South Korea’s comprehensive data service project next month has been delayed, financial authorities said Thursday, with the COVID-19 pandemic stalling its development. The government-led MyData project, when launched, will allow licensed service providers to collect and analyze personal data scattered across the finance sector. The service providers must collect consumers’ consent before they can access their data, currently held separately by different finan

  Bithumb, one of South Korean major cryptocurrency exchanges, will stop accepting registrations of overseas users and block access from traders in four more countries that have been added to a money-laundering watch list. The cryptocurrency exchange will no longer receive applications for trading from overseas users starting 3 p.m. on Aug. 13. The same rule will be applied to foreign citizens in South Korea who do not have an alien registration card, it said. Both registrations and t

South Korean social casino game developer and publisher DoubleDown Interactive has accelerated an initial public offering push to debut on the tech-heavy Nasdaq bourse in the US by picking an additional lead manager, its parent company DoubleU Games said Thursday. According to the officials, DoubleDown Interactive chose B. Riley Securities as its new joint underwriter for the IPO along with the previously selected Macquarie Capital. The update on the underwriting company has been made through

The number of South Korea's listed firms with a market capitalization of 1 trillion won ($875 million) or more rose by more than 30 in the second quarter amid a stock market rally, a corporate tracker said Thursday. A total of 274 listed companies were worth 1 trillion won or more as of end-June, up 32 from three months earlier, according to a survey of 2,357 corporations by CXO Institute. The total market capitalization of the companies came to 2,604 trillion won as of the end of June, up 8 p