South Korean shares opened higher Friday, taking a cue from an overnight rally on Wall Street over strong signals of economic rebound. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 7.79 point, or 0.24 percent, to 3,202.12 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the S&P 500 gained 1.11 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.9 percent, both reaching all-time highs, as steep improvement in US jobs and sales data raised hopes of global economic rebound.

The cryptocurrency turnover in South Korea has more than doubled over the past month, a market tracker said Friday, as retail investors scramble to the virtual currency amid the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The combined turnover of 14 cryptocurrency exchanges in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to $21.63 billion as of 4 p.m. Thursday, according to CoinMarketCap. In particular, the top four exchanges -- Bithumb, Upbit, Corbit and Coinone -- had a combined turnover of $18.85 billion, o

Citibank Korea, the South Korean unit of Citigroup, said Thursday that it would withdraw its retail business as part of its parent company’s reorganization plans for Asia. 　 The decision was made to streamline operations and enhance global competitiveness by focusing investments and resources on its consumer banking franchise, it said in a statement. But the bank has not yet set a timeline or made detailed plans and will take time to conduct a thorough review, as well as hold discussion

South Korea’s top mobile messenger operator, Kakao, replaced Samsung Biologics as the No. 6 company on the Kospi in terms of market capitalization Thursday, a day after its stock split. Shares of Kakao, after a 5-for-1 stock split, jumped 7.59 percent to 120,500 won ($108.07) at the closing bell, lifting the company’s market cap to 53.48 trillion won. The price of Kakao stocks with lowered face value surged over 18 percent during intraday trading, before the bourse operator interru

South Korean stocks finished higher to extend their gains to a fifth session Thursday amid expectations that the economic recovery would be quicker and stronger than expected. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 11.95 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 3,194.33. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.3 billion shares worth some 17.4 trillion won ($15.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 468 to 375. Foreigners bought

10% growth seen in some locations in 5 months

The head of South Korea’s financial regulator said Thursday that he expects to see a greater inflow of foreign capital to the nation’s stock market with the reactivation of short selling activities next month. “Resumption of short-selling signifies that the market is going back to normalization and (I hope) foreigners to return to the market,” said Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo in an impromptu meeting with reporters. While the government is set to

South Korea’s central bank chief said Thursday that the nation’s economy is likely to expand in the mid-3 percent mark this year, rosier than its previous forecast in February. The bank also decided to keep its policy rate frozen at a record low of 0.5 percent on concerns of a looming fourth wave of the COVID-19 virus. “The current situation surrounding both the global and the Korean economy show that the mid-3 percent growth for this year is a possible outcome,” Bank o

South Korea's economy is expected to grow in the mid-3 percent range this year on resilient exports, a leading private think tank said Thursday. Asia's fourth-largest economy is likely to expand 3.5 percent on-year this year, a sharp turnaround from a 1 percent contraction in 2020, according to the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI). KERI's latest projection is higher than the 3 percent forecast made by the Bank of Korea in late February. The think tank under the Federation of Korean In

Lender applies to register ‘Hana Payments’ as trademark

The burgeoning co-investment market in South Korea has reached maturity enough to offer attractive opportunities for investors, US-based investment firm Adams Street Partners said Thursday. Institutional investors that carry out co-investment strategies with its private equity fund managers in Korea and abroad are likely to take advantage of the private equity market in the fourth-largest economy in Asia, a trade powerhouse with growth potential in select industries, noted Dave Brett, partner

The amount of venture capital investments made in the South Korean market last year reached a record high of 4.3 trillion won ($3.8 billion), according to state-owned Korea Development Bank on Thursday. The startup industry has seen an increasing inflow of capital in recent years. The amount of venture investment pumped into the startup market came in at 3.4 trillion won in 2018 and 4.2 trillion won in 2019. The startup segment is expected to gain further momentum thanks to the government&rsq

South Korea's exports hit a record high in the first quarter as shipments of chips and autos remained robust amid the pandemic, customs data showed Thursday. Overseas shipments amounted to $146.5 billion in the January-March period, up 12.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Customs Service. The reading marked the largest volume for any first quarter since the customs agency began compiling related data. The country's exports rose for the fifth straight month in March as ship

South Korea's central bank on Thursday held its benchmark policy rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent, as an economic recovery remained patchy and the country is at risk of being hit with another wave of COVID-19 infections. As widely expected, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea (BOK) voted to leave the base rate steady in this year's third rate-setting meeting. Low inflationary pressure and rising home prices also appeared to prod the BOK board to stand pat, analysts said

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Thursday amid lingering concerns over the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 1.22 point, or 0.04 percent, to 3,183.6 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came off to a muted start after South Korean health authorities said the country may need stronger social distancing measures if daily COVID-19 cases remain high throughout the rest of the week. The country added 731 new cases Wednesday, the highest sinc