South Korea and the United States have agreed to extend their $60 billion currency swap agreement by another three months through Dec. 31, which was signed to help ease market uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday. The BOK and the Federal Reserve reached an agreement to extend the bilateral currency swap deal, which was due to expire on Sept. 30, after extending it twice since it went effect in March 2020 to ease financial jitters caused by the pan

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday as the Federal Reserve made comments about an earlier-than-expected timeline for a rate hike. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 19.61 points, or 0.6 percent, to trade at 3,259.07 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stock prices fell after the key stock index finished at an all-time high the previous session, taking a cue from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comment that the Fed began discussing measures to sca

The global memory chip market is forecast to increase 32 percent this year, a report showed Thursday, boding well for South Korean chipmakers that dominate the sector. Sales growth for the DRAM market is expected to reach 41 percent in 2021, the second largest among 33 integrated circuit (IC) products, while that of NAND flash is projected to be 22 percent, according to the latest McClean report released by market researcher IC Insights. "It is expected that the price per bit of DRAM wi

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Thursday the government will focus on increasing the housing supply in a bid to curb market expectations for continued rises in home prices. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the supply of homes is expected to increase after 2022 as the construction of new properties has increased since May. Amid sluggish housing transactions, the growth of home prices has picked up in recent months in Seoul on expectations for eased rules on the reconstruction of ol

Expectations for Kospi to reach 3,700 in H2 on weak US dollar, economy, corporate improvements

South Korean stocks set a fresh high for three consecutive sessions on Wednesday as investors scooped up blue-chip shares ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's meeting results. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) gained 20.5 points, or 0.62 percent, to finish at 3,278.68. Trading volume was moderate at 2.2 billion shares worth 15.9 trillion won ($14.23 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 519 to 324. The index also extended its winning streak to a whopping five s

Talk of early retirement arises for first time in 7 years in middle of sell-off process

Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund, which is listed on the Korea Exchange, has agreed to acquire the full 100 percent stake of two gas utilities for a combined 798 billion won ($714 million), a disclosure showed Wednesday. The gas utilities, Haeyang Energy and Seorabeol City Gas, distribute natural gas to ratepayers in South Jeolla Province and North Gyeongsang Province, respectively. MKIF said it pinned hopes on an upshot in industrial usage of natural gas in line with the carbon

The European Union is seeking to extend its safeguard measures against South Korea steel products for another three-year period, industry sources said Wednesday. The European Commission has recently notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it plans to maintain its current level of tariffs on imported steel products, according to sources from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. The EU has been charging a 25 percent duty on imported

Korea Investment & Securities on Wednesday pledged to fully compensate the losses from problematic funds sold via the brokerage firm. “The decision came to protect financial consumers and restore our customers’ trust,” Jung Il-mun, chief executive officer of KIS told reporters during an online press briefing. “Both retail investors and institutional investors will be compensated for their losses.” The company sold 10 troubled funds, including Lime Fund, Disco

South Korea's exports are expected to remain resilient in the second half of the year on a series of positive external factors, the central bank said Wednesday. The upbeat forecast by the Bank of Korea (BOK) comes amid a recent surge in South Korea's overseas shipments on the back of a global economic recovery. "With the impact of IT sector's supply-side negative factors easing, major economies are likely to continue their rebound on an increase in global chip demand, the effect of US sti

Publisher of PlayerUnknown‘s BattleGrounds is likely to become most-valuable local game company

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans rebounded in April from a record low the previous month as lenders cleared smaller amounts of bad debts, the financial watchdog said Wednesday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.3 percent at the end of April, up 0.02 percentage point from an all-time low of 0.28 percent the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the banks' loan delinquency r

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea declined in May from a record high in the previous month as some companies withdrew their FX holdings, central bank data showed Wednesday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $94.7 billion as of end-May, down $100 million from an all-time high of $94.8 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Residents include local citizens, foreigners staying here for more than six months an

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday after closing at a record-high level for two consecutive days through the previous session on the back of gains from technology and automobile shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) increased 8.52 points, or 0.26 percent, to 3,267.15 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Wednesday, the index reached an intraday-record of 3,269.42. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved down 0.27 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq